The Adventures of the Tea Pirates!
by Acidrun
Summary: Almost completely OC's; this is the tale of the enigmatic Tea Pirates, and their adventure in the Grand Line. Rated M mainly for language, some gore and violence.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, and all except my own characters belongs to Oda-sama and his ingenious brain.

A/N: Hi, welcome to my first ever fanfiction! This is going to be an adventure-fic, centering around a crew of my own OC's and their adventures in the Great Age of Pirates.

I've made some major changes in the story, as the first concept did not hold very well, but now the story is up and running again!

Enjoy!

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_**Prologue**_

_The world seemed to swirl around them as they opened their eyes. Dazed, they gazed at the ruins, not being able to focus their eyes at all. Everything was just a huge, swirling fog, and for each passing second they could feel the poison spreading through their bodies, making it harder to breathe._

_A tall figure appeared in front of them, clad in a dark, hooded cloak. It looked upon them, and they could both feel the intensity of its stare, like burning spears into the soul. _

_After a while, the intensity faded, and the gaze felt almost assuring and pleasant._

"_Do not worry, young ones..." it said in a deep voice. "Your journey does not end here."_

_They tried to answer, but couldn't speak. A few seconds later, they blacked out._


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my own characters, the rest belongs to Oda-sama.

**A/N: Right, here we go folks! This is, as said in the prologue, my first fanfiction ever, so bear with me and give loads of feedback to help me improve! Also, I do not have English as a first language, so there might be some minor errors; be sure to tell me if that is the case. (I should've waited for my roommate to read it through, but I didn't wanna have to wait until tomorrow to publish.**

**Well... enjoy!**

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**Chapter One**

A cool morning breeze was blowing in over the harbour, dissolving the mist which had been gathering during the last breaths of the previous night. Slowly, the sun began to rise, signaling the start of a new day in Louge Town.

As the town began stirring, a ship slowly floated into the harbour, silently docking. It was a relatively small caravel, painted in different shades of dark green, and subtly adorned with grey patterns and writing. The deck – coated in a lighter shade of green – looked to be almost spotlessly clean, and the ship seemed to have an overall tidy appearance to it. The sails were neatly tucked in, but if one had a closer look it was obvious they had a very dark grey tone to them, matching that of the carvings.

The ship stopped, and two young men jumped over the railing, landing on the pier with soft thuds. The first of them was clothed in green hakama, and what looked like some kind of green monk-robes. He wore simple but sturdy leather boots and his head was shielded by a bamboo hat. Around his waist he wore a thick rope as a belt, to which a couple of scrolls and a leatherbound book were securely fastened. He also carried a large, brown bag, made of some kind of simple, yet sturdy fabric, which was swung over his shoulder, made secure by another rope tied diagonally across his upper body.

He looked up, scanning the pier with clear, gentle grey eyes, and turned to his companion.

_"We made it."_ he said with a smile.

His companion gave him a subtle smile, and absently moved his left hand to his head, making sure his hat was still in place. The hat was pretty wide, and made of tough leather, matching the material of the young mans coat, which hung down to somewhere round his ankles. A pair of goggles were set atop the hat, glistening somewhat in the light of the rising sun. His hands were clad in intricate, brown fingerless gloves, and he wore heavy leather boots on his feet. Two somewhat odd-looking flintlock pistols hung from his belt, and he had a small bag casually hung over his shoulder.

_"So we did"_, he replied.

They started slowly walking down the pier, towards the town, making sure to enjoy the scenery on the way. After walking through the outskirts of town for a while, they settled themselves in a small café, ordering a newspaper and two cups of hot tea.

After scanning the newspaper briefly, the man in the leather coat dropped it on the table and took a sip of tea.

_"There's no word of it yet, but I'm sure someone will have noticed by now, don't you think so, captain?"_

The man in the green robes stared out into nothing for a while, still smiling.

_"Yes"_, he replied. _"Someone would indeed have noticed. Not that it matters, it's not like we did anything wrong, they had it coming."_ He sipped his tea, leaned backwards in his chair and sighed.

_"We still have to wait for Yin and his brother to meet us here, I am not venturing into the Grand Line without a doctor or someone who knows how to patch a ship, that would just be a waste of time."_

_"Yeah."_ the other replied. _"This is one thing we shouldn't be hasty about, I guess. But I'm itching to go, as always."_

_"You're not the only one, Simon. But it won't be more than a couple of days, now."_

_"I know"_, Simon said, sipping on his tea. _"So what are the plans for today?"_

_"Let's do some shopping and find someplace good to eat, I haven't eaten in a restaurant for a while."_

_"Sounds good, want to get going?"_

_"Sure, just let me finish my tea,"_ the captain said with a smile. He threw a glance at the newspaper, suddenly noticing something. He grabbed the paper and scanned the page more thoroughly. After a few seconds, he started laughing softly.

_"What is it?"_ Simon asked.

In response, the captain held out the newspaper for him to read._ "I believe this is what you were looking for,"_ he said, chuckling slightly. _"They've given me a good name, don't you think?"_

Simon looked at the paper, finding what he had previously missed without trouble – wanted posters. He gazed at them, registering the different faces, noticing both his own, and that of his captain.

_" **"Green Monk"** Johan"_, he said, smiling. _"With a bounty of roughly 18 million berri. My, you certainly made an impression, captain."_

_"You're not half bad yourself, Simon. ...Or should i call you **"Bullet"**?"_ Johan smiled and drank the last of his tea. _"15 million berri isn't pocketchange, either. It seems we're getting quite famous."_

_"It looks that way,"_ Simon agreed, putting money for the tab on the table. _"What do you suggest we do about it?"_

_"Let's just ride with it for now, see where it takes us. It's not like we could've avoided it for long, anyway."_

Johan rose from his chair, and they both left the café, walking calmly towards the market square.

After stocking up on necessities, they went looking for a restaurant, making sure they passed the place of Gold Rogers excecution on the way. They stopped briefly at the platform, removed their hats and bowed respectfully.

They made their way to the restaurant – a small establishment, serving different kinds of barbecue and meat. The interior was simple yet stylish, and the food proved to be excellent. As they were finishing their meal, the doors swung open, and a large bunch of rowdy-looking men entered, boldly elbowing their way to the table were Johan and Simon sat.

The leader – a hardened, thugish man with a thin, black beard – looked at them, slowly playing with the sheet of his sword as he did so. Sneering, he slapped the fork out of Johans hand, and it fell to the ground with a clinking sound. Simon made eye-contact with Johan, who nodded almost unnoticably before turning his attention to the man on his left. By now, the whole restaurant was looking at the scene, which was signalled by a compact silence in the room.

A soft sound, similar to that of the pouring of sand could be heard by those who listened carefully, but when Johan spoke, the sound was quickly drenched by his voice.

_"Now..."_ he said, gazing intently at the man. _"I do not appreciate it when strangers interrupt my meal with the use of rude behaviour. Do you mind explaining what you are doing here, besides making me lose my appetite with your foul odour?"_

The man thrust a wanted poster in his face, saying _"This is explanation enough, you worthless piece of shit - we're here to collect your bounty, so get the fuck up from the chairs and come with us to the marines. Nobody has to get hurt."_

Johan smiled, raising his hand to interrupt. _"I believe you are sadly mistaken, my friend. You see, I am not in the mood for your foolish antics, and to be honest, you've made me quite mad. Now, a normal, reasonable person in my position would probably just let this slip, accepting the insult in the knowledge that the man standing before him is in reality nothing more than a pile of slime. But I am not your average person. Also, I have a feeling that you're not going to be convinced into leaving us alone, no matter what I do. ...and besides, we can't have slime walking around, thinking they're free to say and do whatever they please just because they've stopped robbing innocents long enough to develop some tiny amount of intelligence, now can we? Especially not ill-mannered, unhygenic slime, hoping to buy their way out by turning us over to the marines – that's... way beyond unpleasant. It won't do at all. "_

Johan retracted his hands inside the arms of his robe for a split-second, and when he produced them again, they were clutching some kind of hand held knuckle weapons with four prominent spikes, each about a couple of centimetres in length. Without hesitation, he grabbed the man's hand, slammed it down on the table and punched the man's wrist with his other hand. As the spikes connected with the wrist, a cracking noise could be heard throughout the restaurant; the man's hand had been broken completely. Before he could even manage a scream, Johan brought his hand up to the man's face, punching him hard in the nose, making another cracking sound appear, albeit a more subtle one. After this, he grinned and seemingly disappeared from view, reappearing just a second later at the entrance of the restaurant.

The remaining thugs quickly ran forward to help their fallen leader.

_"Simon!"_ Johan shouted calmly.

Simon jumped over the couch he was sitting on, leaving a trail of what looked like brown sand along the way. He swiftly, but with calm steps, walked toward the doors, followed by the brown sand-like substance. Stopping next to his captain, he grinned a wicked smile.

_"There's enough to create all kinds of interesting fireworks,"_ he said.

_"Do it."_ Johan said, producing a smile just as wicked as that of his subordinate.

Simon smiled again, snapping his fingers together, creating a small spark which fell to the ground, landing in the brown trail. The brown substance immediately caught on fire, and rapidly started burning back towards the table.

The men at the table turned to run, but their attempts were futile, as the speed of the burning trail far exceeded their own. As the fire reached the underside of the table, it created a massive explosion, blowing almost half of the restaurant to bits, sending the men violently flying through the air in all directions.

Johan glanced at the shocked owner, with an apologetic expression on his face. _"Sorry about that,"_ he said. Bowing, he put down a bundle of bills on the floor, turned and left the thrashed building, with Simon following suit.

As they stepped outside, they noticed a crowd had gathered, but it immediately scattered, making room for the two young men.

_"You kind of overdid it, you know that, right? I mean, you could've just shot them and be done with it."_ Johan looked at his subordinate with a smile.

_"I know."_ Simon said, grinning back and absently adjusting his hat. _"But you know me; I simply love the smell of gunpowder."_

Johan nodded. _"Let's go; I'm in dire need of a cup of tea."_


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing except my characters. The rest belongs to Oda-sama.

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**Chapter Two**

They walked slowly up the hill, bathed in mild sunlight, as the sun slowly began sinking, giving birth to dusk once again.

"_Remind me again why we're doing this?" _Simon asked, stretching his arms and yawning slightly.

"_Because we have to – I made a promise to Master, and I am not going to break it now that we're actually here."_ Johan pointed ahead. _"Look, there it is."_

Simon gazed forward, noticing a small temple built in a clearing on the hillside. The structure had an aura of spirituality, which could be felt even from their current distance. As they approached, a robed man stepped out in front of them.

"_Halt!" _he shouted. _"Who goes there?"_

Johan raised a hand. _"Have no fear, brother, we bring word from Katsuyama."_

The monk studied Johans robes and relaxed visibly, his face grinning. _"You've come a long way, traveler. Let me show you to the temple." _He was clad in simple, brown robes, and wore wooden sandals on his feet.

The two young men followed the monk, and they soon entered a small, neatly kept garden with a large pond and a couple of well-trimmed trees. Up close, the temple looked quite impressive, and there was a feeling of calm discipline in the air around them.  
The monk guided them inside, showing them where to sit while they waited for the temples Grand Master.

It didn't take long before an old monk in brown robes with long, white hair made his appearance. He studied both of them for a few seconds before speaking.

"_I welcome you to my temple, young masters. I hear you bring word from Katsuyama?"_

"_Yes, that is correct."_ Johan said, handing the old monk one of the scrolls from his belt. _"Master means to summon you all for a counsel; I myself do not know the details, but it seemed fairly important. I was given this information just last month, and he asked me to take this scroll to you, he said it contains all the details you'll need to know."_

The monk bowed and accepted the scroll with a mysterious glint in his eye._ "I feel I must tell you that Katsuyama asked me to make sure you were all right. He knows you're planning on entering the Grand Line, and he wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with either of you. Is everything okay?"_ He looked at Simon, a concerned look on his face.

"_How are your hands doing, Simon? Any improvement?"_

Simon smiled. _"Well, there wasn't much of a nuisance to begin with, but I am happy to be rid of all the burns, the gloves have worked just perfectly."_

The monk smiled._ "I am glad to hear that. I want you both to know that you have the blessing of the entire Order with you on your journey. Do not let anything or anyone stop you from doing what you believe is right. Walk tall, and know that you will always have a home in our temples, no matter __where you are."_

Johan and Simon bowed respectfully, rose and left the temple with a feeling of peace about them.

They made their way back to the ship without saying much at all, making things ready for nightfall. As they finished they sat leaning against one of the walls, both of them sipping a cup of tea.

"_You know..." Simon said with a smile. "I'm actually starting to grow quite fond of those monks. I can see why you wouldn't regret spending your childhood with them."_

Johan drank some tea, looking at the setting sun. _"Yeah..." he said. "They're kinda special, yet they've got more sense and wisdom than most people ever will. To me, they've always been more like a family than a bunch of spirutal seekers. Most monks tend to be quite... unworldly, but these guys are different. They really know stuff about the world."_ Johan went quiet, gulped down the last of his tea and after a little while he closed his eyes, his breathing becoming slow and tranquil.

Simon nodded, but said nothing, instead he cast a glance down at his gloves, a smile spreading across his face.. He sat there for a while, simply enjoying the moment, and when his tea was finished, he silently went to bed, not wanting to disturb his captain, who was obviously lost in deep meditation.

~*~

The next morning they were woken by the sound of two pairs of running feet on the pier, and someone shouting their names over and over, obviously trying to get their attention. They hurriedly made themselves ready, and ran out on deck in order to see what was going on.

Outside on the pier, they saw two persons running towards the ship, moving as fast as they possibly could. One of them was clad in a simple white kimono with matching hakama, the other wore a similar outfit, though completely black. The person in black was shouting for them at the top of his lungs. When he saw them appear on deck, he screamed _"What the hell took you so long?! Marines are coming!"_ He was shaven bald, just as the person in white, and it was obvious to anyone that these two were twins. He carried a number of bags and a katana in his arms, holding on to all of it for dear life, as he made his way to the side of the ship. His twin was right behind him, carrying an equal amount of luggage.

Johan quickly lowered the gangway, and the twins rushed aboard. After lifting the gangway back up, he looked at them with a confused expression on his face. _"Yin; would you mind telling me what on earth is going on?"_ he asked the twin clothed in black.

"_Well..." _Yin answered, _"Me and Yang were picking up medical supplies, when we noticed we were missing a couple of very important instruments, so we... kind of... stole them from the marine hospital."_ He looked nervous, and fumbled with his hands while he spoke.

Johan stared at him in disbelief, and then started laughing. _"Just get it all downstairs, I'll try to clean up this mess as best I can. I trust you left them a fair compensation?" _

Yin nodded. _"We left them a fair amount of berri; they should have no problem getting new equipment. After all, Louge Town is very well supplied on most fronts. We're lucky they had them, since some of our last clients wouldn't have made it otherwise – but we've closed up shop now, and we're ready to go whenever you feel like it, captain."_ He disappeared below deck with his brother in tow, who gave Johan a somewhat wicked smile before walking down the stairs.

Johan sighed and grabbed his weapons, getting ready for whatever the morning had in store.

It wasn't more than a couple of minutes later when about fifty marines made their way onto the pier, taking aim at the ship with various firearms. A tough-looking officer stepped forward and shouted with a voice filled with authority.

"_Members of the Tea Pirates! Please exit the vessel, we have reason to believe you are safeguarding thieves who have stolen from the Marine Corps! Also, you're wanted for vandalising a restaurant, dismembering several individuals in the process, killing most of them completely!"_

Johan looked at them with a smile, placing his bamboo hat firmly on his head.

"_Yeah, sorry about that!"_ he shouted back. _"We're in a hurry and didn't have time to argue, so why don't you just take your money and be satisfied? Besides, you and I both know those injured guys were up to no good! I don't want to hurt any of you, and I'm sure you've got better things to do, so please just leave!"_

The officer seemed a bit taken aback at first but soon regained his composure. _"Crime will not be tolerated, give us back the stolen objects and hand over the suspects, or we will commence offensive actions!"_ he shouted infuriated.

Johan shook his head and looked over at Simon. _"Stay here and get the ship ready for depature, I'll take care of this." _

Simon nodded and went to work on unfurling the sails.

Johan jumped over the railing, landing on the pier with a thud.

"_Now, look here. I can't have you firing all kinds of unpleasant metal objects at my ship, and besides your so-called suspects happen to be important members of my crew, and I have no intention of handing them over to you! I'll ask you one more time to please just leave quietly." _

"_That's absurd!"_ the officer answered. _"Men, arrest this man, along with his crew, and take his ship into custody."_

"_I was afraid you'd see it that way."_ Johan said, and then he suddenly smiled at them._ "Oh, well, I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun. Forgive me if I'm a bit rash, but I'm in somewhat of a hurry."_ He grabbed the hilts of his weapons firmly in his palms, and took a deep breath, focusing himself.

Johan vanished, and a fraction of a second later, the marines started flying in all directions, as if hit by some kind of whirlwind or tempest. Cracking noises were heard all over, as several of them got their hands and arms broken by an unseen force. Those still standing after a couple of seconds got their heads bashed, and fell to the ground, all the while trying to see who or what was causing this massacre.

As the last of the marines fell after only a few seconds, Johan appeared seemingly out of nowhere, standing in battle stance, his hands raised and dripping with what looked like blood.

"_Now..."_ he said to the officer, who was the only one left standing. _"I went easy on your men, because I do not believe in unnecessary violence, and I wanted to give you a chance to leave without further harm."_

The officer looked at him, his eyes filled with fear. He swallowed, and started running towards the city as fast as he could.

Johan smiled and shouted to Simon _"Are we ready to go yet? I have a feeling he'll be bringing __down the big dogs before long, and that would no doubt prove quite troublesome."_

Simon finished what he was doing, and answered _"Yeah, I think we're all set! We've just got to raise the flag, and put the kettle on!"_

Johan kicked one of the more conscious marines into the water when he noticed he was about to fire his pistol at him, then he quickly jumped aboard the ship.

"_Good," _he said _"Tell Yang to start the engine, I want to get out of here as soon as possible. And besides, we can use the excess heat to make some tea." _


	4. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except my characters. The rest belongs to Oda-sama.

Enjoy!

**_(A/N: Google "Tekko" to learn more about the weapons that Johan use__.)_**

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**Chapter Three**

It was a few hours after they'd left Louge Town behind them, and Johan was sitting on deck, absent-mindedly twirling his Tekko in his hands, staring off into space. A soft creak on the deck behind him brought his attention back to reality. He turned to find a surprised looking Yang staring at the weapons with wide eyes.

Johan smiled at him. _"These are kalled Tekko, they're simple weapons used by the monks who trained me. They're usually only used for self-defense, but can also be used to punctuate vital points and organs, making them very versatile, unlike those knuckledusters who solemnly rely on bludgeoning power. I can also let them simply rest on top of my hands, using my hands as normal. I find that they complement my style, as I do not enjoy killing without a reason, but at the same time, I won't hesitate to make short notice of someone if I feel that I have to."_

"_That sounds very reasonable,"_ Yang said, looking at the sun, which had almost risen to the top of the sky by now. _"I've trained with the sword, together with Yin, and I feel confident that we'll both be able to hold our own if there's ever any trouble."_

"_I don't doubt it for a second."_ Johan said,_ "After all, you're both key members of the crew – I know me and Simon seem very tight, but it gets like that after years of traveling together, but have no doubt, without you and your brother, neither of us would survive very long in the The Grand Line at all. I'm very happy you decided to join us." _

"_Yeah, me and my brother are quite inseparable as well, so I know the feeling. Though joining up with you was an easy decision – neither of us really had to think twice, all we needed was some time to prepare." _Yang gave Johan a warm smile. _"Besides, we'd be dead, or maybe even worse, if it weren't for the two of you."_

Johan scratched his head and smiled. _"Well, there's no need to keep thanking us, just be yourselves, and everything will be just fine, we're all companions now. ...which reminds me, would you mind fetching Simon and your brother for me, and meeting me back here in like five minutes?"_

"_Sure, right away, captain."_ Yang swiftly disappeared below deck, looking for the others.

Johan stood still for a moment reminiscing about how they had met the brothers for the first time. The thought of the huge difference in setting and atmosphere was enough to make him shudder and clench his fist as he remembered that faithful night...

_**It had been a cold night about three years ago, during their voyage to explore even the darkest corners of East Blue. They'd been hiking across a rather large island when they'd stumbled upon a mansion, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Hoping to find some shelter for the night, they'd knocked on the huge doors. Yin and Yang had answered the door, clad in what looked like servants uniforms, wearing collars round their necks. They'd summoned their master – a fat, ugly man who obviously had far too much wealth for his own good. The man had agreed to shelter the two young pirates in exchange for a large amount of berri. Reluctantly they'd paid the man, anger building up inside both of them. The man had carried a large number of bodyguards who'd all looked like they'd been recrutited from the deepest pits of jail.**_

_**Servants wearing collars could be seen around the house, performing all kinds of degrading and repulsive tasks. Every now and then, one of the guards would slap a slave for being too slow, not making the soup hot enough or some other absurd reason.**_

_**Johan had felt severly sick the entire time, as the negative and sad emotions from the servants made him shake with fury, yet he tried to remain calm and think of a plan. The pain had been to much for him, though, and he soon snapped, angrily pounding his fist in the small bed he'd been given as sleep escaped him for the third time in an hour. He'd seen all the signs to be sure; the man was nothing other than a slave trader, using his goods as servants between auctions. He'd whispered to Simon who was still awake contemplating, and with a heated voice he'd declared that this was too much to bear. Simon had agreed, and they had made short notice of both the man and his guards – Simon had used his abilities as a gunslinger and had easily turned the man's bodyguards into swiss-cheese while Johan had gone upstairs to the slave trader's bedroom, where he had coldly jabbed his hand through the man's chest, destroying his heart and killing him swiftly. They'd both taken a vow that night, after freeing the slaves, to rid the world of slavery and all trades like it; no matter what it would cost them or where it would lead them– they would battle the World Government itself if they had to.**_

Snapping out of the flashback, Johan prepared four cups of steaming hot tea, all the while smiling to himself.

As his companions made their way onto the deck, he silently handed them each a cup, which they accepted without question.

Johan looked at his companions with bright, smiling eyes, but his expression soon turned dead serious.

"_My friends..."_ he said, clutching his teacup in one hand._ "I want you all to listen closely at what I have to say, as this is something personal, coming straight from my heart, and I won't repeat it again. We're all heading out together on this journey, and I feel like I should tell you why I've chosen to live the life of a pirate, why I've chosen to steer this ship towards the Grand Line, asking you all to be by my side." _He took a deep breath before he continued.

"_During my travels, I have seen much suffering, and equal amounts of joy. I've had experiences which I could've never imagined myself having in my wildest dreams. I've thought a lot about the meaning of this trip and its circumstances, and I fell like I've come to a conclusion._

_First of all, I'm not doing this for the mythical treasure Roger left behind – I do not believe that the King of Pirates died willingly in order to simply start a treasure hunt; I believe he died to prove something far more important. He wanted to show that no government can ever truly supress the dreams and visions of its people, and that every person on this earth is entitled to a free will and a free life._

_I didn't choose to become a pirate in order to have great adventures or search for treasure; I became a pirate because there is something very wrong with the government ruling us at the present time, and I do not wish to be bound by its constricting rules and regulations._

_As we speak, people are suffering under the fate of slavery, and the government is doing nothing to stop it. Mermen are being abused both verbally and physically by all kinds of sadistic people, and the government is simply turning a blind eye, pretending not to notice. We've got a number of individuals out there called "World Nobles", with almost unlimited assets, behaving like complete assholes, and no one is allowed to even touch them, just because the government says so. _

_Sure, we're going to have adventures, and parties, and we'll surely find some treasure along the way, but I'm not going to the Grand Line to search for trinkets or claim some useless title. I'm going in order to help people achieve their own freedom, and one way or another, I **will** put an end to this madness once and for all. I'm not saying I'm going to battle the World Government head on, but this has been going on for far too long, and I can't sit idly by anymore. I will tackle this my way, and I won't stop trying until I've either succeeded in making some kind of a difference, or been killed. This is my dream, and I'm giving it all I've got."_

Johan turned his gaze at Simon. _"Simon, we've known each other for the past five years, and you __are without a doubt the closest thing to a brother I've ever had. We've been through hell together, and your guns and abilities have saved me on many occasions. I couldn't ask for a better First Mate."_

He turned to look at the twins.

"_Yin, your medical knowledge is a most valuable asset, and I'd trust you with saving my life without a moments hesitation. Yang; what can I say? Your engineering skill is simply spectacular, I still can't understand how you built the steam-engine for the ship, but I'm very happy to have you aboard, and I trust you to take good care of the ship."_

He smiled at all three of them.

"_Now, I know all of you have your own reasons for coming, and I swear on my position as captain that as long as you sail under my flag, I will try with all my power to help you realize your own goals and dreams as well."_

Johan looked at his small yet reliable crew; it was going to be a rough start – he knew they needed more men to properly navigate the ship without the risk of failure once properly inside the Grand Line, but he felt confident in their abilities, and his gut told him that everything was going to work out fine, all they had to do was get going.

Grinning, He raised his teacup and shouted _"Tea Pirates! To freedom, dreams and adventure! Are you with me?"_

"_YEAH!"_ the others shouted in unison, clashing their cups together with his for a toast.

"_Well then, companions... Towards Reverse Mountain, and the Grand Line!"_

They all cheered and drank their tea in one gulp, inwardly bracing themselves for the adventures up ahead.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Johan smiled and took a swig from the pint in his hand. The trip over Reverse Mountain had gone smoothly, and they were now safely anchored at a small harbour a few days journey into the Grand Line. It was a small place, yet still large enough for them to blend in seemingly without problems. Dusk had settled about an hour ago, and the crew was currently enjoying themselves in one of the local taverns after securing the ship in a small bay outside of town. Yin and Yang had left about half an hour ago along with some freshly bought kegs on a cart, since they needed somebody to watch the ship during nightfall. Johan and Simon were still enjoying their drinks, chatting merrily about their current plans.

Johan had stored away his hat, and was currently wearing a dark green bandana tied across his head, though he still wore the same robes as before, as well as the boots. After a few gulps from the pint, he turned to the barkeeper with a gentle smile.

"So..." he said, "what did you say the name of this place was, again?"

"It's called "Sugar Bay", it's named after the large amount of sugar canes grown around here." the barkeeper replied.

"Ah..." Johan said with a tone of sudden understanding, "That explains why your rum tastes so great!".

"Well, yeah," the barkeeper replied with a grin, "We're famous for our high-quality rum, you know. Best rum on this side of the Red Line!" he looked at Johans crew with a somewhat worried eye. "Err...If you don't mind me saying it, well... You and your crew sure seem to be drinking quite a lot tonight..." he said in a slightly concerned tone.

"Don't worry about it," Johan said, "Even if it is more than you're usually accostumed with: It's been a while since we've had a chance to enjoy a really good drink, is all. We won't cause any trouble, you have my word."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud, slurring voice from the other end of the counter.

"Pfft. Y...you...you call that a lot of rum?" it said, clearly finding the barkeepers comment to be a huge overstatement.

The voice belonged to a very odd looking character; it was a young man, dressed in a pair of black cropped trousers, and a sturdy looking black leather jacket. He wore a pair of black leather boots which easily covered his shins. The rest of his body was seemingly bare, but what really made him stand out was his face and the colour of his skin. His skin had a very white tone to it, and it looked somewhat inhuman. His face looked even more inhuman, as he had no nose to speak of, instead there were a couple of small holes above his mouth were the nose should've been. He had no throat, but instead looked very much like an eel, with his wide neck more or less directly connected to his shoulders. A slim, yellow fin ran from the top of his head, along his back and disappeared beneath his jacket; his eyes had a yellow tint to them, and he had neck-length black hair, which hung somewhat bushily around his head.

He was also, by all accounts, very, very drunk.

"You're no match for me! I could outdrink the lot of you anytime!" he continued, raising a slightly wobbling, yet very defiant finger into the air. "But you're too chicken to try me, aren't you?"

"Oh?" Johan replied smiling, "Is that a challenge, friend?"

"You bet your ass it's a challenge!" the man shouted loudly, slamming his pint into the counter with a fierce bang. "You and me, you ugly faced monk! Let's see which one's the better drinker!"

Before Johan could reply, Simon rose from his seat at a nearby table, staggering slightly as he quickly made his way over to the counter.

"Hey, Captain!" he said, giving the odd looking man an angry glare. "Let me take care of this drunk eel for you!"

The odd looking man rapidly turned his eyes to Simon, and by the look on his face, Simons outburst had struck a very sensitive nerve."EEL?" he shouted, his face a mask of drunken rage. "EEL? ...OK, THAT'S IT! Get over here right NOW! I'm not gonna take that from a shithead like you!"

Johan laughed. "Hey, barkeep'! Give them all the drink they can stomach, I want to see where this goes!" Johan handed the barkeeper a large amount of belli. "Payment in advance," he said, smiling, "since you never know what's gonna happen during stuff like this."

The barkeeper nodded gratefully. He was used to the sight of people trying to outdrink eachother, and by now he knew the procedures like the back of his own hand. Simon sat down across the table from the young man with the odd looks, and the barkeeper quickly brought them two large clay jugs of quality rum and two clean glasses. Simon and the odd looking man simultaneously grabbed a bottle and poured the rum into their respective glasses; a second later they were both downing the licour with impressive speed.

The odd looking man, finishing a split second before Simon slammed his glass fiercly onto the table, grinning triumphantly. "Hah!" he said smugly, "You're so slow I could beat you while drinking through my nose!" To the others astonishment, that was exactly what he proceeded to do; as they were about to pour the next glass, he smashed the top of his jug against the table, and promptly shoved his face into the large opening.

It took Simon and Johan a few seconds to register what was going on, but then they noticed clucking sounds coming from inside the jug, even though they could still see the outline of the man's mouth, which was clearly completely closed. About fifteen seconds later, he emerged from within the jug with a triumphant smile on his face, rum dripping slowly from his nostrils. "Now... nowwatchasaytothat?" he shouted.

Simon blinked a few times in shock, and the he burst out laughing uncontrollably, repetedly slamming his fist onto the wooden table in front of him. After a while he settled down, wipeing tears of laughter from his eyes. "That was...fucking brilliant!" he extended his hand to the odd looking man, smiling widely. "My name's Simon, and the fellow by the bar is my captain, goes by the name of Johan. I think I speak for the both of us when I say that we'd be happy to buy you drinks for the rest of the evening." Johan quickly made his way to the table, offering his own hand in greeting. "Damn right we would! A pleasure to meet you, I'm Johan, captain of the Tea Pirates." The man smiled warmly at both of them. "Pirates, you say? Well now, I'll be damned. You two sure turned out to be a hell of a lot nicer than I would ever have expected." He shook their hands, and they were surprised by the feeling of the man's skin – it felt like touching the sleek skin of some kind of sea-serpent. "The name's Niklas, but you can call me Snatcher, or Snatch for short, even though I suppose it sounds a bit vulgar at times, eh?" He sluddred a bit when he spoke, and gave a short laugh at his own joke. The next instant, however, his eyes became focused, and he spoke the next words completely fluently, with an undertone of great anger. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a merman, and if you've got a problem with that, you can go fuck yourselves in a corner."

Johan chuckled at the man's fierce tone, and sat down next to Simon with a laid-back posture. "A pleasure to meet you, Niklas. I assure you, neither of us see anything wrong with you being what you are; as far as we're concerned, the whole argument is a load of pure bullshit. It doesn't matter what race you are, as long as you're a good person." Johan took a swig from his pint. "Now, if you don't mind me asking; what brings you to this here fine establishment? By the looks of you, I'd say it's more than just a taste for good rum that's driven you here." Johan nodded indicatingly to an odd-looking weapon at Niklas right. It looked like a rifle, but instead of the usual muzzle it had a giant claw attatched to it's front. It also had what looked like cogwheels attatched to several places along the body. Niklas stare became relaxed once again, and he followed Johan's gaze, and smiled happily when he saw what he was indicating.

"Oh, this? This is my pride and joy; my very own design, I'll have you know. I call it "The claw.". It's not a grand name, but let me show you what my baby can do." He grabbed the rifle, aiming it at one of the empty bottles currently standing at the far end of the counter, roughly ten meters away. He pulled the trigger, and with tremendous speed, followed by a tail of sturdy looking rope, the claw shot forward, grabbing the empty bottle firmly in it's metal fingers. Niklas pulled the trigger again, and the rope started to retract itself with the same speed it had been fired. The claw quickly flew back towards them and graciously attatched itself back into the rifle, still clutching the empty bottle. The whole procedure took about five to six seconds altoghether.

Johan grinned, clearly impressed. "Now...that is something you don't see every day."

Simon looked at the gun, somewhat mezmerised. "Tell me..." he said, in a longing voice, "how far can you shoot that thing?"

Niklas grinned. "Oh, I dunno... easily fifteen meters, but the longer the distance, the weaker the pull gets. Yeah... any longer than fifteen meters, and I'd be forced to make quite a few modifications." Niklas poured himself a glass of rum from Simon's jug and took a large sip. "You want to know what I'm doing here, eh? Well, that's a bit of a story. To put it shortly, I got in trouble for punching a local rich punkass in the face after he called a variety of colourful things. He didn't listen when I told him to shut the hell up, so I went ahead and did him the favour myself. Turns out his father didn't approve; he gave me all kinds of threats, and I'm currently hiding out here, hoping that the whole thing will blow over quietly. There's no telling what's gonna-". He wasn't able to finish the sentence, as the door was suddenly brutally forced open, followed by a storm of about twenty marines entering the small building. They quickly surrounded the table in a half-circle of bodies, putting their hands on the hilts of their rapiers, ready to draw at any given second. A young, fierce looking man wearing the coat of an officer stepped out of the circle. He gave Johan and Simon a brief look, but then focused his gaze on Niklas.

"Well, well, well... look what the cat dragged in." he grinned with a mix of triumph and disgust. "Drinking are we, fishboy? You know as well as I do that the gallows are waiting eagerly for you, you fucking amphibian filth. Your offence to young Lord Aaron can't not go unpunished; by the command of his father, Lord Caster, you are to be executed at dawn. Now, you can either come along quietly like a good little goldfish, or-".

"Piss off, you dim-witted asshole!", Niklas snorted angrily. "The brat got what he deserved, and you know it! One more word, and I'll punch your teeth in as well!"

The officer's face became grave. "I take it that you won't come willingly. Should've known better than to expect a sense of honour from a fucking shrimp. Men, arre-"

"Now, now, gentlemen..." Johan raised his palm in the air in a calm manner. "There's no need to get violent, here."

The officer glared at him. "This...fish, has been sentenced to death by the Lord himself! Who the hell are y-" he paused, taking a closer look at Johan. "Wait a minute... I know your face! You're "Green Monk" Johan!" his gaze darted to Simon. "And you're... AAAAGH!". There was a short explosion, followed by the smell of gunpowder. The officer screamed and fell to his knees, as a bullet pierced his right leg, staining his breeches bright red with blood. "I'm "Bullet" Simon", Simon said with a small smirk, his face still facing the table. His left hand held a smoking pistol, and he was casually drawing his other one, seemingly not paying the marines much attention at all. "And I'll have you know we don't take kindly to that kind of vocabulary."

Johan sighed and gave his arms a quick stretch. "Well, well... I guess it was inevitable, in the end. There really is no reasoning with idiots, is there?"

"GET THEM!" the officer screamed at the top of his lungs, while clutching his wounded leg with his left arm. "KILL THEM ALL!"

The marines hesitantely drew their blades and lunged forward with nervous expressions. Johan quickly rose from his chair, equipping himself with his tekko, ready to counter any incoming slashes. Simon jumped onto the table and quickly made another jump, seemingly through thin air, landing on top of the counter, pistols at the ready. Meanwhile, Niklas had taken the opportunity to get ahold of his rifle, and he fired it at one of the supportbeams near the ceiling. Using the rope as a swing, he swiftly drew himself forward, kicking two surprised marines squarley in the face with his feet.

Simon started firing shots, taking care not to hit any vital bodyparts, mainly aiming for arms and legs.

Johan countered a couple of incoming slashes, and rushed forward with unnatural speed. He punched one of his attackers in the chest, which brought the sound of cracking ribs, and planted his other fist in the second attackers face, cracking his nose with a fearsome snap.

Niklas dropped down from his rope, and with the agility and skill of a trained hand-to-hand fighter, he started to fight his way through the number of marines before him. He managed to knock about four of them unconcious, and then the fight was suddenly over. With their strategic positions, and the help of Simon's accurate shooting, it had taken them only a couple of minutes to incapacitate all of the marines. Johan smashed the face of the last one still standing, clearly dislocating the young boy's jaw. As he turned his head towards Simon, his eyes were gleaming red.

"Whoa, there...easy, captain." Simon said, putting his guns away. "They're all down now, so there's no need to get all worked up. Take a deep breath."

Johan inhaled deeply, the colour slowly draining from his eyes. He smiled a sly grin and walked over to Simon. "Alcohol... makes you fierce, it does."

Niklas kicked one of the more lively marines in the stomach as he passed, walking over to Johan and Simon. "Not a single of these asses dead, I see. Why's that? I saw you using soft-gloves, so I joined in on the whole thing, but why'd you let them live?"

"Well..." Johan scratched his head reflexively, "I don't like unneccessary bloodshed – It's not like they had a chance to begin with. And besides, they're just pawns. Well... except for mister angerpants over there." He nodded towards the officer.

"What should we do with him?" Simon said, adjusting his hat into it's proper place.

"Well..." Johan turned to Niklas. "He's your problem really, we just happened to be in the line of fire, as it were. Hell, we don't even have a clue what he's done. What do you want to do?"

Niklas face turned dark. "I'm going to fucking kill him", he said through clenched teeth. "Rasist fucks like him is what makes this world a larger shithole than it already is." Niklas grabbed the now unconcious officer and turned to the groaning mass of marines on the floor. "Listen up, you idiots! I've got nothing against any of you, but this man I currently hold in my arms has dealt me a great offence. He has spit in my face, insulted me several times, and decided that because I chose to respond physically to repeated physical and verbal abuse from both him and that punkass Lord, I ought to be hanged, simply to show other mermen that it is not tolerated to bear hands on a human, no matter what. I'll let you decide who is the monster here yourselves, but I'm not just gonna walk away leaving this pathetic excuse of life to poison any more minds. Count yourselves lucky, and tell that punkass Lord to start being nicer to other species, or I'm coming for him next, you hear me?"

He then wrapped his arms around the officer's head and swiftly snapped the man's neck, letting the dead body fall to the floor.

"Hear, hear!" shouted Simon from atop the counter, raising a half-full bottle of rum and taking a few swigs. "Racists belong in hell!"

The barkeeper peeked from his hidingplace behind the counter, and when he saw the fighting was over, he slowly got to his feet. "Umm..." he said, in a shaky voice.

Johan turned towards him. "Oh! Yes! I'm...terribly sorry, we've made a bit of a mess, haven't we? Tell you what..." he grabbed the dead officers body and produced his wallet. "...why don't you take this? I doubt any one of the fine lads at the floor would tell on you, and besides, I was the one who took them, so the blame is all mine, isn't it? I've no idea how much it is, but it ought to cover some of the mental scars. Now, if you'll excuse us, we'd better be on our merry way, as it were."

He turned to Niklas. "Now, I know this is sudden, but you look like you could use both an escape route and a couple of friends right about now. How about joining our crew? You've certainly impressed me beyond doubt. It's not every day you meet a man able to drink a copious amount of rum through his nose and still handle himself in a fight." Johan extended his hand towards Niklas.

Simon jumped down from the counter and smiled. "I know captain's the one who calls the shots, but you're definetely okay in my book. Let's continue this party elsewhere!"

Niklas eyes narrowed for a few seconds, and then he laughed. "You know what? Why the hell not? You guys seem to have your heads on straight, and damn, you can fight. Judging by angerpant's reaction, you're pretty famous too, aren't ya? Seems like a lot of fun could be had around you guys; count me in!"

He shook Johans hand with a smile. "Niklas "Snatcher", at your service, captain."

Johan grinned broadly. "Then I hereby pronounce you as an official member of the Tea Pirates! Welcome to the crew mate." He flicked his arm towards the door. "Well, then, gentlemen. Let's take our leave and join the twins aboard the ship - I'm in the mood for tea. ...And rum, I definetely want more rum."


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter five**

The sun is a curious thing. Not only does it relentlessly bring the light of day to the world, but it also manners to produce thousands of different reactions to its bright and warming presence on the vast blue sky. Depending on the mood, it can be seen as a revitalizing bringer of joy. This was not the case aboard the Tranquil Cloud. To the two crewsmen who lay sleeping aboard the deck, it seemed in all aspects to resemble nothing but a brutal hammer of agony and migraine.

The first drew himself back into the covering shade under a piece of spare canvas, while the other stood up and threw himself into the ocean. The second reaction wasn't something you'd see a normal person do every day, but then again, he was no normal person. The man disappearing into the waves was in fact the newest member of the Tea Pirates, and he was also a merman.

_"Mmm..."_ he thought, _"sweet, sweet water..."_.

He swam for a while, trying to remember what he had been doing last night. It came back to him in small bursts of insight. While pondering the shaky pictures of heavy drinking and what seemed like an all-out tavern brawl, he casually bit the head of a nearby fish and swallowed it whole.

_"It looks like I've become a pirate."_ He reflected upon this thought for a moment. _"Huh...I certainly didn't expect that when I woke up yesterday. But... were they really serious about what they said last night? Intending to end slavery and racial prejudice?"_  
He continued swimming for a while, but the question nagged him, so he decided to do the only reasonable thing – return to deck and ask them while they were in a sober state.

Simon groaned. The canvas was doing a poor job of shielding him from the piercing rays of the sun, and his head felt like a ton of unstably stapeled bricks being pounded on by a very determined giant. He was about to groan once more for good measure, but was interrupted in this amiable course of action by the swift removal of the canvas.

_"Hey!"_ a voice said sharply. Simon rubbed his eyes, trying to see who the agitated speaker was. _"Niklas?"_ he asked sluggishly. _"What the hell do you want, I'm trying to be hungover, here! Cut a guy some slack, would you?"_

Niklas didn't retort. He stood silent for a few seconds, and then he spoke in a very serious tone._ "Did you really mean what you said last night? The parts about you going after slavetraders and the Celestial Dragons? Were you being serious?"_

Simon stared at him, rose to his feet and smoothed his clothes. _"Of course we were, why wouldn't we have been?"_ He picked up his hat and placed it on his head with a motion of satisfaction. Simon rummaged through his pockets, withdrawing a considerable chunk of meat from one of them. He started eating while waiting for Niklas to respond.

_"Well..."_ Niklas scratched his head with a somewhat perplexed look on his face. _"I mean... people talk big when they've been drinking, and... um... it's just not every day that you meet people who actually mean what they say on the morning after, that's all."_

Simon gave him a stern look. _"Rest assured, the captain is deadly serious about his intentions. And so am I, for that matter."_ Simon's expression turned into a smile. _"Have you eaten?"_

_"What? Oh, yeah, I swallowed some fish."_

Simon gave Niklas a disturbed look. _"You swall...you know what, I actually don't want to know. My stomach can only handle so much. Anyway, if you're feeling suitably stuffed, let's go see the captain."_

He turned towards the door leading downstairs inside the ship, and beckoned for Niklas to follow him.

The inside of the ship was surprisingly big. It held four or five large rooms, a few storages, and a large wooden staircase continuing downwards a few steps and stopping in front of a large double-door. Simon pointed to one of the larger rooms. _"In there are the sleeping quarters, the room on the opposite side is the kitchen. A caravel shouldn't be able to hold this many rooms, but the man who built it seems to have put in a little extra size. Not that we're complaining – it's nice to have some legroom."_ Niklas pointed to the double-door. _"What's that room?"_

Simon smiled. _"That... is the Captain's quarters"_.

He gave Niklas a serious look, and his tone once again turned stern._ "Now, remember this: we might be a casual crew, but the Captain's room is his sanctuary. Show him the respect he deserves, and do not touch anything if he doesn't tell you to. When we get inside, just follow my lead, all right?"_

Niklas nodded. This sudden change in behaviour had him a bit perplexed, but he didn't have much of a choice. With a mixed sense of curiosity and confusion he followed Simon into the room.

Stepping inside the room they were met by a barrier of humid air. A small hallway opened up unto a large, circular platform. The cercumference of the circle was lined by all kinds of plants and bushes, which filled out into the remaining space of the room in a green square of vegitation, making the room feel almost like a rainforest.  
In the upper-right corner, a hammock could be seen tied to a couple of large trees. A desk stood nearby, accompanied by a couple of cupboards and a few chests.  
The ground was covered with grass, and there was a strong scent of tea in the air.  
In the upper middle of the room, Johan sat in seiza with his back turned towards them.  
A faint trickle of water could be heard from somewhere, but there was no identifiable source. A dim light crept in through a barely visible window, but it was strengthened by a series of lantern as well as a large chandelier, which hung in the middle of the room.

Five coushions were layed out in front of Johan in a cresent-shape, and Simon sat down on one of them, bowing as he did so. Niklas quickly followed suit. Shooting a glance at Simon, he saw that he hadn't raised his head, but was still bowing, as if waiting for a sign. Niklas kept his head down, wondering what was going to happen. After a few minutes, Johan spoke.

_"The newspaper this morning held some very interesting yet grave news."_ He turned around, facing them.

Simon raised his head, and immediately changed into a relaxed position, lying down on his back and resting on his elbows._ "I haven't had the chance to read it yet."_ he said with a smile. _"What kind of news were there?"_ Niklas noticed the change in atmosphere, and made himself comfortable by switching to the lotus position.

Johan got to his feet and picked up a teapot from the desk, and he swiftly produced three cups from one of the cupboards. Returning, he served all of them a cup of tea.

_"It seems that Fire-fist Ace is going to be executed. He's currently being held at Impel Down."_ Johan sipped his tea.

_"Well? What does that have to do with us?"_ Simon asked, sipping his tea.

Johan smiled a predatory grin, his eyes turning red. _"There's a storm coming."_

Niklas looked at him with a shocked expression. Johan did not appear to notice his uneasiness.

_"It's making me excited. Things are going to happen that I never would've dreamed of. And we can't just sit idly by this time. I thought things might quiet down a little after that crazy Strawhat and his crew disappeared after punching the Celestial Dragons, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. This storm is going to shake the very foundations of the world, I can feel it!"_

_"Okay: one, what have you seen, and two, what the hell is it that you want us to do?"_ Simon asked while casually twirling one of his guns.

_"I saw a battlefield strewn with bodies, and I saw a Pirate-flag blowing proudly in the wind."_

Johan took a big gulp of tea, still smiling the same grin. _"Whitebeard is going to war. And we... we're going shopping."_

He turned to Niklas, and looked at him with a face full of anticipation and his red eyes smiling with mischief. _"Tell me, Niklas... have you ever dreamed of going to the sky?"_


	7. Chapter Six

She was covering in the sheltering undergrowth of the island, hidden by a sea of shadows and vegitation. It was a comforting feeling, but her mind was currently too preoccupied to give it much notice. Her right hand rested firmly on a hilt sticking out of her belt, while her left tightly clutched a newspaper. She looked at the page in front of her.

"There's no mistaking it," she thought, "that's really them."

The page held two wanted posters. The first showed a man in what looked like some sort of dark green monk-robes, drinking a cup of tea. Below the picture it read:

"**Wanted dead or alive - "Green Monk" Johan, 160 million bellies."**

The other poster depicted a man wearing a long brown coat and matching hat, holding a gun in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other. It read:

"**Wanted dead or alive – "Bullet" Simon, 100 million bellies." **

"Such high bounties, and yet they're walking around in broad daylight without a care in the world... Who the hell are they?" She shook her head in mild disbelief, scratching her hair absently. Feeling the long curls between her fingers brought another thought to light, one that she wasn't at all sure how she was going to handle. "They've got my ribbon. I saw the monk pick it up after I dropped it. ...and somehow, I have to get it back."

* * *

Simon streched and stifled a yawn. They had resupplied in town, and were now slowly heading back to the ship. The sun was slowly setting overhead, but he reckoned there were at least four or five hours until twillight. It had been a good day – the winds had been favourable, and they'd made it into the small yet cozy island village of "Kazuho" several hours before schedule.

Johan had pointed out the general direction a few days ago, and had declared in his no-arguments-voice that despite the Log Pose pointing in a whole different direction, they were heading towards this island. He said he didn't know what size it would be, what it would be called or how long it would take for them to get there, but he was adamant in his decision. "We need to go there."

When he gave an Order like that, his eyes distant yet gleaming with an inner fire, you didn't argue. You obeyed.

Finding the things they needed hadn't been hard, but people had looked at them with slanted eyes all the time, acting overly cautious, like they were somehow dangerous to be around. It was shortly after they'd procured the last of their supplies from a nice but nervous old lady that the Captain had found the ribbon.

It was a rather plain-looking piece of silk, deep blue and adorned with tiny green dragons. Simon felt that he probably wouldn't have even noticed it lying on the ground, but the Captain had picked it up with great care, treating it like some kind of treasure.

Simon had looked at his Captain curiously. He'd only seen him behave like this with objects a few times before, and it usually meant that something about it was very important.

"Johan", he had said. "What is it? Did you sense something?"

Johan had just given him a cryptic smile and said "This is...precious, I think." he had smiled. "And look, green dragons. Yes... I'll hang on to it for now."

Simon had laughed at the remark and started walking again.

"Yes..." he thought, "a good day, but sort of strange, too."

He was interrupted in his musings by Johan, who came to a sudden halt.

"What is it, captain?"

Johans face looked grim, and he had a faraway look in his eyes. "Niklas is coming" he said, "and he's upset about something."

True to his preciction, Niklas came running towards them, holding a newspaper in his hand, wearing an expression of shock and just a hint of a smile at the same time.

He came to a halt in front of them, panting and wheezing. "Captain..." he was breathing hard "...with all due respect, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" he forcefully thrust the newspaper towards Johan.

Johan looked at the displayed page for a second and then started laughing with a big smile on his face.

Simon looked at him, curiosity written on his face. "What is it, Captain? What does it say?"

Still grinning happily, Johan gave him the paper. "It looks like they found out at last."

Simon took the paper and glanced at it. His eyes focused on the lower half of the page, and a huge grin slowly spread across his face. "One hundred million berri..." he said, his smile still growing. "Hell yes! That's what I'm talking about!"

Johan gazed out over the horizon, and his eyes grew distant for a moment. "Get to the ship at once." he said, sounding both excited and grave at the same time.

"What? You still haven't told me what the fuck this is ab-" Niklas started, but Johan cut him off. "There's no time for stories!" he snapped. His eyes flashed red, and he smiled a predatory smile. "Prepare yourselves for battle, gentlemen. The winds have started blowing!"

_**

* * *

**_

She had shadowed them for over an hour now, and they hadn't noticed her once. It wasn't really surprising, she was very good at remaining unseen when she wanted to. They had run into what she guessed was one of their crewmembers. She didn't catch the whole conversation, but it seemed that the man the paper called "Green Monk" was the captain, and for some reason, he seemed very excited about seeing his wanted poster in the paper. But after a few seconds, the mood had changed, and they'd all hurried towards the harbour. She'd kept her distance and followed them, silent like a shadow.

Now she stood on the pier, gazing up at the dark green ship in front of her. The men had bustled around on board for a little while, but now everything lay quiet before her. She was a pale girl with long, curly black hair tied in a braid. On the right side of her face, however, a single lock of snow white hair was visible among the black ones. She stood a little below normal height, but had a well-toned hourglass figure. She was clad in red, spacy pants and a matching top with black, embroided roses that covered her medium-sized bosom. She wore a pair of black, sturdy boots and a pair of black gloves. She had a three-cornered leather hat on her head, and a grey, tattered bag slung over one shoulder. Around her waist ran a black leather belt with a silver clasp in the shape of an eye. Securely tucked inside it were what looked like two whips, one on each hip. Any man would have a hard time calling her anything but beautiful, but what really made her stand out were her eyes. One was green like a deep-rooted moss, and the other burned with the intense orange-red colour of a raging fire.

"I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to." she said to herself. "But I can't let them leave with my ribbon."

She took a deep breath, curled herself up into a ball for a split second and with an air of grace and accuracy about her, jumped soundlessly onto the ship.

_**

* * *

**_

Johan sat in his quarters, his mind sunk into meditation, a cup of steaming tea cooling beside him.

He sensed a presence at the door behind him, but did not rise. The door creaked subtly, and he could hear the tiniest echo of footsteps slowly and carefully coming closer.

"So..." he said calmly, his back still turned towards the door. "You've managed to sneak onto my ship, and make your way past my entire crew – which is no small feat. I don't sense anything hostile about you at the moment, yet I feel you're not to be taken lightly. You're a bit on edge, due to the excitement of the moment, and a little bit startled and scared at being found out." he spun around swiftly, grabbing the teacup in his left hand, facing the young girl with a smile. His grey eyes studied her calmly. "Only a fool would try to rob us, so I can only assume that you're here for the ribbon."

The girl was about to answer, but before she had the chance, the door was slammed open and Simon came half running inside. "Captain!" he shouted, "There are-" he stopped as he saw the young girl, and in a flash drew a gun and pointed it at her head. "Who the fuck are you, and where did you come from? Did the Marines send you? Don't move, or I'll blow your brains out!"

The girl's face instantly hardened, and she put one of her hands on the hilt of her whip, ready to strike.

"Calm down!" Johan's voice made them both flinch, and he rose from the floor in a swift movement. "The young lady is not an enemy, Simon, she simply wants her ribbon back." he looked at his First Mate with a pensive expression. "...but I see the returning of important items will have to wait. How many?"

"At least fifteen ships, and some of them looked like Battleships, too. It seems we really poked the fucking hornets' nest."

"Then there is no time to lose. Let's get going." Johan turned to the young girl.

"You can stay here until I've taken care of business, if you wish. Or you can join us on deck. Regardless, I've got a bit of a rumble on my hands. Don't steal anything, or try to run. I'd hate to have to hurt you."

Before she could answer, Johan blurred and disappeared from sight. Simon gave her a last suspicious look and then ran back out, towards the deck.

* * *

Johan held the helm in a firm grip as the ship made it's way out of the harbour. It was like looking at a forest of masts and sails. The fifteen ships that Simon had told Johan about had advanced, and behind them came an even larger second row of ships, bringing the total to somewhere around thirty. Out of all the ships, four of them had the large, impressive exterior of a genuine Battleship. The wall of ships approached fast, the standard of the Navy flying high on every single one.

He could feel his crew lining up behind him, as well as the strange yet powerful presence of the young girl.

"Are the guns ready?" he asked, still facing the approaching ships.

"Yes" replied Yang, "Simon has stocked them well."

From one of the battleships, the loud sound of a portable den-den mushi could be heard. A voice said: "Tea Pirates, you are wanted by the Navy for threatening the peace of the known world-"

"Nice choice of words, there." Johan grinned.

"-surrender at once, or we will not hesitate to engage hostilities!"

Johan cracked his knuckles.

"Well, now. That sounds like a threat to me. I don't take kindly to threats. Yin, Yang, man the bow- and sidecannons. Blast as many of them as you can."

The twins disappeared below deck. After about thirty seconds, a large explosion appeared at the front of the ship, tightly followed by another one. Two cannonballs were hurled through the air with great speed. As they hit one of the outer ships, they exploded with intense ferocity, engulfing the whole ship.

"There." Johan said, grinning. "Hostilities engaged. Let's bring them hell.

"Niklas, get into the water and show me some mayhem. And Simon..." Johan grinned again. "...fire at will."

Niklas jumped into the water without a word. After a few seconds, a rope with a grappling hook could be seen emerging from the water, attatching itself to the mast of one of the smaller ships. Niklas shot out from the water like a rocket, using the force of the pull to kick two marines overboard as he reached the ship.

He spun around the mast once, kicking another marine in the face, and then he dived back into the water. Seconds later, he emerged on the other side of the ship, jumped out of the water and hit a very surprised marine in the neck. He continued fighting in this strange way, more often then not diving into the water or grappling himself somewhere aboard the ship. Despite the fact that he was outnumbered about fifty to one, and that he seemed to be playing around as much as fighting, it was obvious that Niklas held the upper hand against the entire ship.

Simon produced a long rifle from his back. It was a simple brown colour and had a simple metal pipe adorned with grey markings. He took aim at the ships, even though they were much too far away to be in any kind of shooting range of an ordinary rifle. "Captain..." he said, and squinted with his eyes. "I think this might actually get ugly. They've sent Captains and even a _Commodore_ at us. And on top of that, they're approaching fast. They're not playing around." He put his finger on the trigger.

"Explosive Cluster."

A bullet shot forward from the rifle. As it flew, it split into two bullets, that split into four, that split into eight. They flew fast, and much longer than any ordinary bullet would have been able, all the while multiplying every few seconds. When they reached the approaching vessels, it looked like a swarm of small, metal flies. The swarm hit three ships at once, and though none of them sank, the explosions that followed upon contact were enough to make the ships more or less unuseable – masts and sails were cracking, and large holes were filling with water. The bodies of harmed or dead marines littered the decks.

"Damn..." Simon muttered. "Still not as effective as my cannonballs." he continued to fire, and if you looked closely, you could see he was getting more and more exhausted from each shot.

By the look of things, the ship Niklas was on had somehow suffered a violent and mysterious leakage, and was rapidly disappearing below the waves. Another ship fell victim to the strangely powerful cannonballs.

Despite suffering heavy losses, the Marine ships made no sign of stopping their advance. They had begun turning their ships around, in order to get the small pirate-ship in shooting-range.

"Yang!" Johan's voice was calm and loud. Yang appeared from below deck, his face black with gunpowder burns. "Yes, Captain?"

"I don't like the feeling of this. Take the helm, see to it that we don't suffer more damage than we have to."

"Yes, Captain, but...what are you going to do?"

Johan's face looked grim, his eyes shining brightly red. "I am going to take care of this personally."

Simon stopped firing his rifle, looking at him with a shocked expression. "Are you going to...but..." he glanced at the young girl, who hadn't moved a muscle during the whole time. She regarded him with a pensive look. He looked back at Johan.

"Are you sure?"

Johan nodded. "Yes. I won't allow the Marines to bully us, it's time to show them that their fears are very well placed."

He turned to the young girl. "This might be... a little startling."

His eyes began to shine even brighter, and his facial features became distorted. His skin started turning green, and he grew about 50 centimetres in height. The green skin turned to scales, and his face grew longer. A scaly, thick tail sprung out from the back of his pants, and with a ripping sound, a pair of dark green wings unfolded from his back. His fingers grew claws, and with an animalistic roar, he stood transformed before them. A green, humanoid dragon with red, burning eyes.

"Time to finish this." his voice was deep and rumbling like a thunderstorm.

Johan threw himself into the air, and took flight towards the Marine ships.

He positioned himself on the right side of the lined ships.

"Dragon spear."

He flung himself forward with tremendous force, slamming headfirst into the hull of the nearest ship. This did not stop his course – he merely went through the other side of the ship, and into the next one, leaving the ship behind him split in half. He knocked five ships down like dominoes before losing power.

To his left, another ship sunk from one of those mysterious leaks, and he saw Niklas smiling face emerging from the waves. Two more ships were sunk by the marksmanship of Simon and Yang.

Johan turned towards two of the Battleships.

"Leave us alone, and you won't be harmed! He shouted, his voice rolling like thunder.

"You will die for your crimes!" came the heated answer.

"I am truly sorry for this." Johan said, a sad tone in his voice. "But you just won't listen to reason."

He drew his head back.

"Dragon Inferno."

A cone of flame erupted from his mouth, burning hotter than any fire. As the brighter marines jumped into the sea for cover, it engulfed both the Battleships in a flaming hurricane. Within less than a minute, both the ships and everything on them had been burned to cinders.

He disappeared in thin air, and a split second later, he materialized on another of the Battleships – the one holding the Commodore.

"Surrender, or gamble with death." he said to the surprised crew. The Commodore stepped forward. "We will never surrender in the face of pirates!" he screamed, drawing a blade and charging forward. Johan did not move. The Commodore's blade swept, angled downwards, hit Johan diagonally in the shoulder, and with a loud crack, shattered like glass.

"Dragon Flame."

Johan sent forth a jet of fire, burning the swordarm of the Commodore completely off, making the man faint from pain.

He turned to the Marines and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear:

"I am Johan, Captain of the Tea Pirates, and we will not be apprehended! We will never follow your "justice", and we will never bow down before your corrupted Lords! I give you twenty seconds to turn around and leave, or jump into the water for safety. After that, I will burn those who remain!"

As he finished his speech, a bullet came flying from one of the Marine's rifles. It hit him straight in the head, but shattered to powder upon impact. Johan didn't even flinch.

Instead he gave the man responsible an angry glare, jumped back into the air and transformed again.

This time, it all happened very rapidly. His arms extended into long, lizard-looking legs, and his whole body grew several meters. After a few seconds, he hovered before them – a nine meter long, one meter wide dragon with huge green wings, straight out of mythology.

He said nothing at all. He merely inhaled slowly, watching as disbelieving marines turned their ships around or threw themselves into the protective arms of the sea.

With a roar, he produced a gigantic, intense ray of fire, slicing through the remaining ships like a knife through warm butter, reducing them to piles of ashes within seconds.

As the inferno subsided at last, he flew back to the ship, where everyone except Simon looked at him with disbelieving eyes. He descended, transforming on the way down towards the deck. As his feet touched the wooden planks, he was back to his normal self, his eyes slowly turning from red to their usual grey.

"Now..." he said, breaking the silence, brushing himself off with one hand. "I believe there is the business of returning a ribbon..." he smiled deeply. "A blue one, adorned with _dragons_."


	8. Chapter Seven

**A/N: In case anyone is interested, I decided to change the size of Johan's Dragon Form in the last chapter, since I wanted him to look a little more like Haku from Spirited Away, and a little less like the oversized worms from D-War. Enough rambling, enjoy the chapter!**

**

* * *

Chapter Seven  
**

The sun was setting. Simon stood at the helm, gently guiding the _Tranquil Cloud_ towards it's next destination, wherever that was. The Captain hadn't given any clear instructions, he'd just pointed in an eastward direction and said: "That way.", but Simon wasn't worried. In the end, the Captain was always right.

Others might doubt him, but Simon had known him long enough to know that even the most seemingly random behaviour had a larger reason behind it. The Captain had been silent regarding the recent battle. After smiling at the crew's surprised faces, treating them all to some rum and tea, and issuing the new direction, Johan had retreated back to his quarters with the instructions to send the girl down for a meeting in about two hours. The crew had scattered shortly afterwards, leaving Simon alone on deck.

Simon was enjoying the breeze on his face and contemplating the recent turn of events, when the young girl came up to him.

"Um..." she said, looking a bit nervous. The Captain had treated her to drinks as well, but she hadn't drunk much. Simon thought it was probably her nerves. Hell, if he'd been in her shoes, he'd been shaking like a leaf. The fact that she showed so little signs of fear and nervousness was quite impressive.

Simon turned to her and smiled. "Yes? Can I help you, miss?"

The girl tilted her head to the side in a slightly odd way that reminded Simon of something, but he couldn't seem to remember what.

"I just wanted to know if I'm a prisoner, or..."

Simon laughed. "Have no fear, if the Captain wanted to imprison you, you'd know it by now, believe me. No, I believe you are just the victim of some very unforseen and unfortunate circumstances." he smiled at her. "Why, are you frightened?"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "No, I'm not. I just dislike being kept in the dark when I don't have to be."

"Good answer. And don't worry about the Captain. He's the most gentle man you'll ever meet. He'd rather cut off his own hand than hurt someone who doesn't deserve it. Speaking of, I think it's time you went downstairs."

* * *

She stepped swiftly down the stairs and opened the doors, feeling a little bit nervous as she thought about the carnage that the man she was about to meet had unleashed just a few hours ago.

Inside the quarters the humid air was heavy with the scent of freshly boiled tea. In the middle of the circular platform stood an oval table with six chairs. The table was an odd creation: instead of legs, the table top rested on top of what looked like two twisted, curled up trees that appeared to still be rooted to the ground. Johan sat at the top of the table, holding a cup of tea in his hand. He smiled at her as she entered, his eyes calm and gentle.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked, indicating a large teapot with several cups around it, standing in the middle of the table.

She sat down at the other end of the strange table, pouring herself a cup of tea, and for a few minutes, nobody said anything. Finally, the silence was broken by the young girl, who seemed a bit annoyed.

"All right, I'm getting sick of not knowing what the hell is going to happen. Are you going to kill me, or what?"

Johan smiled at her. "Ah, forgive my manners. Our first meeting was somewhat abrupt and short. If we don't take into account the fact that you spied on us from inside a large bush and followed us to the harbour, I'd almost think you were sent to kill me, but that's not the case, is it?"

The girl was taken aback a bit by his words. "Had he known the whole time?" she thought. "But then, why...?"

"My name, as you have probably already guessed, is Johan."

He pulled the blue ribbon out from a pocket in his robes, studying it intently. "This belonged to someone important to you, didn't it?" he tossed it across the table, and the girl caught it in midair with a movement so quick it was barely visible. She didn't answer his question, but his eyes gazed intently into hers, making her feel exposed and naked.

"I thought as much" Johan said, still holding his gaze firmly fixed.

"What is your name?"

"Lynx." the girl replied.

Johan stood and bowed. The formal gesture might have seemed odd given the circumstances, but there was something about his presence that made it look dignified, and there was no mistaking the feeling of respect that it held. Lynx felt shocked and humbled at the same time.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lynx, and I humbly apologize for the current conondrum. As of right now, you are a guest on my ship. I would have given you the ribbon when I found it, but I couldn't be sure if it was really yours or not. ...And besides, I wanted to talk to you." he smiled and sat down.

"It's not every day that someone manages to sneak up on me from behind close enough to actually see my back. I felt you coming from a long way away, but...you move swiftly and silently, like a mist. You're far too interesting to ignore." Johan sipped his tea.

"If you wish, we'll drop you off at the next island, but..." he looked at her intently again, and that piercing feeling hit her like a wave.

"I would like to make you an offer." he said, smiling.

"What kind of offer?" Lynx tilted her head to the side, observing him closely.

"I would like to invite you to join my crew."

* * *

Lynx put her cup of tea down, a baffled look on her face.

"Why...why would you say something like that? You don't even know me, or anything about me."

Johan smiled. "I do not have to know you in order to see that you are a very special young woman. If I didn't think you would contribute to the crew, I wouldn't have let you jump aboard in the first place." his eyes flashed red for a second.

When he spoke again, it was with a hint of pain in his voice.

"This isn't something that many people know, but I feel you can be trusted. My... gift, allows me to sense the emotions of everyone around me, like waves crashing against my mind. It's not something I can control, but I have learned to accept what and who I am, and I can sense much of myself inside you." Johan drank some more tea, his face pensive.

"I know you are not entirely human, and I know you suffer. You hide so much from the world, trying to fit in amongst the shadows and make some sense of your strange past and your heritage. Yet all you really want to know is who you are, and why you are so different. I do not expect you to answer me right away, but just know that there is a place for you here, if you want it. Here, no one will judge you for what you are, or give you odd looks because you're different. All I ask is that you stop being ashamed of what you are. Embrace your own existence, and I can promise you a world full of adventure and wonders." he smiled and finished his tea. "If you'd like, I can probably help you find out what you are, and where you came from."

Lynx felt overwhelmed. How had she come to be here of all places, aboard an unknown pirate ship in the middle of the ocean, and who was this enigmatic Captain before her? More importantly, was he serious? It all seemed like a big joke, but she noticed he wasn't laughing.

"If I'm going to consider this properly, I want some answers." Lynx said, her eyes narrowing.

"Go ahead, ask as many questions as you like." Johan poured himself another cup of tea.

"What are your ambitions?"

"Well, I aim to rid the world of slavery, and stop as much discrimination as I can. Besides that, I intend to have as many adventures and meet as many exciting people as I can." Johan smiled a slanted grin, and added in a high voice." And recently, I've been thinking of going after One Piece."

A wave of sound erupted from outside the door, and above it all could be heard the disbelieving voice of Niklas: "He said WHAT?" A second later, the doors swung open, and the whole crew tumbled inside, landing on top of one another.

* * *

Johan laughed. "I had a feeling that might catch your attention. Sit down, all of you. And speak your minds freely, I can feel you are full of questions. But first, I believe introductions are in order."

He gestured smiling towards Lynx as the crew took their seats. "Everyone, this is Lynx, the mysterious young lady who snuck aboard while you were busy prepairing for the fight. Lynx, this is my crew. You've already met Simon. The merman to your left is Niklas, and the twins are Yin and Yang." Johan gestured towards each of his crewmates. Simon raised his hat, Yin and Yang bowed their heads, and Niklas gave her a short but friendly nod.

The merman regarded the Captain with a look of disbelief. "Now, did you mean what you said? Do you really intend to... ah, hell, I need a smoke." Niklas fumbled through his pockets and lit an odd looking cigarette, and a faint smell of seawater and seaweed filled everyone's nostrils. He leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the table top. He continued in a calmer voice, but his disbelief was still apparent.

"The Pirate King? Are you serious?"

Johan nodded with a smile. "I've been thinking about it, and it seems like a good idea. As the King, I would hold the power to change things once and for all. Besides...after today, it seems that holding a low profile is out of the question."

Simon slammed his hand down on the table top and laughed. "Interesting times are ahead, there's no doubt about that! Let's do it, Captain!"

Yin raised his head with a smile. "Speaking of today...what did you do to get the marines so upset?"

Johan grinned sheepishly and scratched his neck. "Well, you know how we said we had a few things to take care of, and that we would meet you in Logue Town?"

Yin nodded.

"Well, we sort of...took out every single Marine base in East Blue."

Niklas choked on his cigarette, and Yang spurted a fountain of tea across the table.

"WHAT?"

"Heh...well, I...sort of went a little overboard, I suppose. But we didn't _kill_ anyone, I think... We just...demolished every single ship and building belonging to the Marines."

"We _did_ kill the slave traders." Simon pointed out, sipping his tea.

"Oh, _yeah_, we did!"

"_And_ those corrupted guards who were trying to have their way with that innocent girl."

"Yeah, them too, It must have slipped my mind."

"And those brainwashed marines who were gonna burn down that village. And the businessmen trying to rip off those starving citizens, the bandits, the Marines who came after us shouting their fanatic heads off, the-"

Johan laughed. "I guess we _did,_ didn't we? My, it's all a bit hazy to me, to be honest, but it's coming back now. I apologize. We killed a lot of racists, cold-blooded murderes, rapists and other scum."

"You went batshit crazy, you mean." Simon smiled.

Johan smiled dreamily. "I did, didn't I? How lovely."

The crew was deadly silent, and then Niklas started laughing so hard he fell off his chair.

"You crazy motherfuckers!" he screamed, still laughing. "This just keeps getting better and better!" he wiped tears of joy from his eyes and crawled back into his chair. "Count me in; One Piece, here we come!"

Lynx had been silent the entire time, but suddenly she rose from her chair, her eyes gleaming with determination.

"This has been one hell of a day," she said, shaking her head, "and you are without a doubt the craziest bunch of people I've ever met. And yet you seem honest and sincere, like the legendary Gold Roger himself. Only a fool would pass up an opportunity like this, and I might be many things, gentlemen, but I am no fool."

She dropped formally to one knee, bowing her head. "I, Lynx Lo Grwendel, hereby swear my loyalty to the Tea Pirates, and their Captain."

Johan's face became serious, and he smiled warmly at her. "And I, Johan D. Cilphaestrus, welcome you to my crew."

"Hell yes!" Simon shouted, punching the air with his fist. "That's what I call a perfect ending to a crazy day like this! Everyone, let's celebrate our new nakama!"

Everyone cheered, and they picked Lynx up, carrying her on their hands while hurrying to the storage looking for rum. It had indeed been a turbulent day, and it was going to end with a long and joyous night.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

The city of Wellspring was a bustling, summer climate metropolis that held several thousand citizens. It was considered a strategical keypoint in the west section of the Grand Line, and as a result it held a large Marine stronghold.

Hundreds of ships passed through the city every month. Pirates, traders and civilians alike wandered the busy streets in search for goods, drink and whatever else was on their respective agenda. Large several stories houses stood side by side with small, shady establishments and the city held more bars and hostels than anyone could count.

Inside one of the many taverns, a peculiar scene was taking place. At a small table in one of the corners, a merman clad in a leather coat and a pair of cropped trousers was screaming his lungs out towards one of the nearby roof beams.

"Give me back my fucking food!" his voice was angry, and by the look in his eyes he was ready to punch someone in the face.

A female voice answered him with a chuckling undertone from the shaded refuge of the ceiling "Sorry Snatcher, finder's keepers!"

The merman drew what looked like some kind of crossover between a grappling hook and a rifle and pointed it towards the voice. "Damn it, Lynx, don't make me come after you!"

A young man in a leather coat sat at the other end of the round, wooden table and was twirling a bullet in his right hand, laughing hard. "It's your own fault for hoggging all the fish. You need to learn to fucking share."

Niklas grunted and put his rifle away, sitting down at the table with a sour look on his face. "Fine, it's not like I was really hungry anyway." he muttered, lighting a cigarette.

"That's good, because I'm all finished now." said the voice, and a large amount of fishbones came flying down at the table, followed shortly by a young woman dressed in a red and black outfit, wearing a large chesire grin on her face.

"I'll get you next time!" Niklas pointed an accusing finger at Lynx as she sat down opposite him, putting her bootclad feet up on the table.

The man in the leather coat laughed and took a drink from a large pint in his left hand. "You've been saying that for over a week now, and so far you've been proven wrong every time."

Niklas glared at him and took a long draw on his cigarette, muttering something under his breath about obnoxious, sneaky women stealing food.

A chuckle was heard coming from a chair in the corner, and a calm voice said: "If you're all done playing with the food, we should get going. It's already past noon, and we have a long walk ahead of us." A young man in green robes emerged from the shadows, holding a cup of steaming tea in one hand, which he promptly finished in a large gulp, setting it down on the table with a thud.

"Oh yeah," Lynx said with an excited smile on her face "the Mystery Visit!"

Johan smiled and got to his feet.

Niklas finished his smoke and stood up with a creaking noise, cracking his knuckles. "So we're still going to this...temple? I don't really see what all the fuss is about, but...hell, if you say so."

As Simon and Lynx got up from the table, Johan gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry" he said, smiling, "I promise it'll be worth it. Plus the food is great."

Niklas face brightened considerably. "Now you see, Captain, you have to tell me these kind of things right away!"

* * *

They made their way through the busy streets, passing all kinds of vendors and stalls, sifting easily through the building crowd and out the west gate of the bustling city.

It was a long walk through the lush, green landscape, but the sun was out, and the breeze was cool, so nobody had any complaints. After a little over two weeks at sea, the feeling of solid land under their feet was a welcome change.

As they walked, Lynx reflected upon the recent events. After joining the crew, she had gotten to know everyone a little better. Both Simon and Niklas were easygoing individuals who like to laugh and joke a lot, and she found it easy to befriend them.

She was a bit surprised to learn that while Simon had known Johan for years, Niklas had joined the crew just roughly a month before she had. The twins never said much and they prefered not to talk about their past, but she got the feeling they were good people nontheless.

She had immediately taken a liking to the Captain, even though he was very enigmatic at times. She felt that he honestly cared for all of them as individuals, and somehow his presence made her feel safe and welcome. Even when he was meditating, his door was always open, and he never asked anyone to leave. When she'd discussed her observations with Simon one night while on helm duty, he'd merely smiled at her and replied: "Yeah, that's the Captain for you."

They had made port in Wellspring earlier this morning, which she found a bit odd, since the Log Pose aboard the ship didn't point towards the island at all.

Niklas, who was the navigator had laughed and said that "That bothered me at first, too, but it seems these guys just don't do things the normal way. Simon said that they regarded the Log Pose as a "guideline" for now, and that the Captain knows where we're supposed to go. It's a bit odd, I'll give you that, but it seems Johan has a plan, and who are we to argue?"

Johan had told them that they were going to spend the night at at a local temple on the island, and in his enigmatical way he had added "And I promise that everything will become much clearer once we get there."

* * *

The temple was situated on top of a large hill, and it took them almost three hours on foot to get there. It was a truly magnificent site to behold. A large stone wall covered a giant, peaceful garden and several sturdy wooden buildings. The temple itself looked as if it had been carved out of a single, giant rock. There were no statues or ornaments, but the place had a strong feeling of spirituality about it. As they ascended the stairs to the entrance, they were greeted by a monk in flaming red robes.

"Halt!" he said, "What is your business here?"

Johan bowed his head. "We bring word from master Katsuyama."

The monk's eyes became wide with surprise, then he looked at Johan's robes and smiled.

"You must be Johan. The master has been expecting you. Follow me."

They followed the monk inside, and were met by a grand hall, where what looked to be hundreds of monks sat in meditation on pillows worn with use. At the head of the hall, on a small elevated platform sat an old monk with long, white hair.

Johan kneeled before him and bowed his head, and after seeing Simon do the same, Niklas and Lynx quickly followed suit.

"My name is Tetsu, and I welcome you to my temple. The young man in green can only be Johan, and the man in the brown hat and coat must be Simon. I've heard about you from Katsuyama's letters. The young merman and the lovely, graceful lady are your comrades, I assume?" the old monk's voice was surprisingly strong for his age, and he smiled at them with eyes full of wisdom.

They raised their heads, and Johan took a scroll from his belt, holding it with both hands and extending them towards the monk. "I bring this scroll from master Katsuyama." The monk who had escorted them hurried forward and took the scroll from his hands and brought it up to his master, who put it aside.

"I thank you for taking the time to deliver this, but I sense it is not the only reason you have come. Let us retire to a more private place, so you may speak freely." The master got up from his pillow, and they followed him out through a side-entrance, into a small, secluded part of the garden. There was a small pond, and several stone benches in a circular formation.

As they took their seats, the old monk looked intently at Johan.

"Tell me what is on your mind, child. I felt the power of your actions a few weeks back, and there must be much that is ailing you." he looked at the rest of the crew. "That goes for all of you, you are safe here, so be at peace and do not hesitate to speak your minds. Any friend of a member of our Order is welcomed with open arms."

Johan closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he spoke, his voice was shaking slightly with emotion. "We...we tried cleansing as much of East Blue as we could, and then we passed into the Grand Line, stopping by the brown brothers on our way here. We ran into the marines on the way, and...we took them out. I...we tried not to hurt anyone who didn't deserve it, but..." Johan's voice faltered, and the old monk smiled at him.

"Fear not, child. No innocent lives were taken that day, that much I can tell you. Go now, and meditate. You have done no evil."

Johan bowed and with a swift motion, disappeared from view.

The master turned to Simon. "You seem to be fairing better, young Simon. Tell me, how are your burns?"

Simon smiled. "The brown master asked me the same thing. I feel a lot better, and the burns have stopped."

"That is good to hear. I feel your brother needs your presence, go to him."

Simon bowed and went back inside the temple.

* * *

The monk smiled at Lynx and Niklas. "I wanted to speak to the two of you privately. Tell me, how much have those two told you of their origins?"

Niklas scratched his head, feeling a little confused. "Not...not very much at all, to be honest. I didn't even know that Johan was a part of your order. I've never even heard of you."

Lynx nodded. "Me either. All I know is that Johan seems very spiritual sometimes, and that he and Simon appear to be very close."

The master nodded. "We are known simply as The Brotherhood or The Order, and we've been around since before the creation of the World Government. With the exception of the scholars of Ohara, we have held more knowledge than any other gathering of people for hundreds of years. Our goal is, simply put, to spread knowledge and peace throughout the world, regardless of the consequences.

Concerning your Captain, well... I can only tell you what Katsuyama has told me in his letters, but... It appears Johan was raised at their temple in East Blue from when he was a small child. I think his parents were pirates, but I'm not sure. What I do know is that Katsuyama sensed something special about the boy, he told me he could feel the mark of destiny upon him.

He grew up to be a strong, intelligent young man, and then... the incident occured."

The old monk paused.

"I do not know the details, but it seems that Johan set out to follow in his fathers footsteps. Apparently he found something in his father's old journal, and set out to find whatever it was. When he returned a few days later, with Simon by his side, something had changed about him. Katsuyama said he felt that he had been touched by a divine presence.

There is an old legend in the ranks of our Order that tells of the awakening of a great, green dragon in a time of need. No one knows exactly what it means, but it is said that the one who is chosen shall wear the mark of the dragon upon him. It also says that by his side, he shall have the Marksman, and together they shall set out on a long journey and be a great force against the suffering of the land."

The master closed his eyes.

"I can't say wether or not they have been chosen, but it is clear that both Johan and Simon came back that day with great abilities inside them. They stayed at the temple for almost a year, and then they set out into the world. Regardless if they know of the legend or not, both of them seem determined to make a change in this wretched world.

Especially Johan takes his mission very seriously. All who train under us learn the secret of Empathy, and are able to sense the feelings of those they meet, but...he feels them more strongly than anyone ever has. In a way, I suppose you could say he feels the pain of the whole world."

The monk fell silent, and for a long time the only sound that could be heard was the trickling of the small pond beside them.

"I sense you are surprised and overwhelmed. I have no doubt that Johan hasn't told you this. He rarely speaks of his past to anyone. What happened on that faithful day, I cannot say, but there is great pain inside both him and Simon. What you have learned today is yours to do with as you wish, but I felt I should tell you, as even the strongest and understanding of men can have a hard time sharing their secrets. He brought you here to rest and to show you a little of his past, but... I believe he chose you to be his nakama for a reason. I feel he has faith in you, and that he would trust you with his life. I suppose that's just the kind of man he is. I give you this knowledge in hope that his faith was well placed. I sense you both have dark pasts yourselves. Perhaps you may conquer them together."

The master smiled at them. "There is indeed something special about all of you, and I look forward to seeing what the future will bring. You may join the meditation if you wish, or you can find something else to occupy your time.

There will be a banquet for you when the sun has set. Tonight, you are our honoured guests, and whatever happens, know that you walk with the blessings of the Brotherhood behind you." he bowed his head, and they returned the gesture. As the master went back inside, they sat in silence, pondering the knowledge they had just been given.


	10. Interlude

**Interlude**

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* * *

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_**The meeting room was made of solid stone. The light of a few lit candles cloaked the room in large, foreboding shadows. It held a single table, surrounded by four chairs, two of which were occupied. Wanted posters lay scattered across the table, showing dozens of notorious pirates. The room was shrouded in an eerie, chilling fog.**_

_**One of the chairs creaked. A young man wearing a marine coat and a pair of dark sunglasses sat up and tapped the tabletop with one of his fingers. "Reports confirm that the Tea Pirates have made port in the city. We didn't expect this. They have become quite a thorn in the eye of the World Government, headquarters say we cannot allow them to run free, not with Whitebeard on the move. Something must be done!"**_

_**The other chair creaked, and a man with grey hair and several scars across his face sat up straight, smiling a wicked grin. "Hunting down scum like them won't be much of a problem. It's like a game of chess, Anthony; Take away the strongest piece, and the rest will fall." he drew a knife from his belt and slammed it down into the wanted poster depicting a young man in green robes having a cup of tea.**_

_**"We capture the monk. I'll personally see to it that he has an...interesting execution. And when his friends come looking for him..." he grinned again "...we kill them too."**_

* * *

Johan awoke, sensing something terribly wrong. Everything was too quiet. He cautiously rose from his bed and made his way outside into the courtyard of the temple. The night was cold. Too cold. And there was a fog, thicker than he had ever seen before. He silently drew his tekko and waited.

A sinister voice crept from the fog."How good of you to join us. We were going to massacre everyone inside, but it seems you've saved us the trouble."

Before Johan could react, a figure stepped out from the fog. It was a tall, grey-haired man, wearing a marine coat, holding a knife in one hand, and a pair of handcuffs in the other.

He pointed the knife at Johan with a ferocious smile and said: "Agonizing Needle."

Johan clutched at his head, unable to move. The pain of thousands of people shot into his mind like burning spears. He tried to scream, tried to make a noise to alert the others, but there was no use. No matter what he did, the pain kept increasing, to the point where he thought his soul would shatter. He felt his mouth fill with blood, and helplessly he coughed, spilling it onto the ground, falling to his knees.

"Pain..." the man said, grinning "It's a truly wonderful taste, is it not?" he secured the handcuffs around Johan's wrists with a sadistic chuckle. "These are seastone cuffs. This way, you'll be forced to behave like a proper little pet. Oh, we're going to have so much fun, you and I..."

Johan felt his strength leave him, he could do nothing but collapse in a heap on the ground, screaming silently at the pain in his head.

The man grabbed Johans hood and dragged him like a ragdoll across the courtyard, disappearing into the fog. The night grew still, and the only thing that remained was a small trail of blood from Johan's mouth and the compact silence of utter despair.


	11. Chapter Nine

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, everyone! This one was a bit hard to write, due to several reasons, but I got it done in the end. I hope you enjoy it!**

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* * *

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**Chapter nine**

Simon grumbled, half awake. It had been a long night of good food and drink, and even though the Captain had told the monks that he wouldn't be able to distribute the rest of Katsuyama's messages, they'd still thrown them a party he hadn't seen the likes of in years. He knew that the morning would be filled with a killer hangover, and he wanted nothing more than to stay in the warm embrace of dreamland a little while longer.

There had been a river of rum, and slender, brown-haired girls with a fetish for gunpowder... But a stingy sensation had rocked his dreams, and he felt himself drifting closer to conciousness every second. The stinging sensation returned with increased force, and he was woken as it spread out across his cheek with a burning sensation.

"Simon!" a voice screamed, "Wake up! I've been slapping you for three minutes already!"

Simon opened his eyes. Niklas stood before him, with an angry expression on his face.

"What the hell Niklas, why are you-"

"Stop your whining and get the fuck up!" his voice was shaky with emotion. "The captain's gone!"

Simon composed himself in a matter of seconds, and his hangover disappeared without a trace.

"What? Wha...how? Are you sure?"

"I've been looking all over the place, and he's nowhere to be found! None of the monks have seen or heard a thing, but they found several of the guards outside, it appears they've been knocked out since late last night! Lynx said she would-"

"Would the two of you get a fucking move on? "

"- she would try to find out where he's gone." Niklas finished meekly. They both ran out to meet up with Lynx. There are no excuses for keeping a lady waiting, and if that lady is in a foul mood and armed with swords, you'd better have a bit of extra spring in your step.

She stood in the courtyard, looking down on what at first seemed to be nothing more than a pool of dried clay or some spilled wine, but when they got closer, they saw it for what it really was: blood. And not a small amount either.

"They hurt him." she said, her mismatched eyes flashing with anger in the morning light. "The fucking bastards."

Simon looked at the pool of blood with a grim look on his face. "What do we do? How do we-"

"I can find them." Lynx said, with a determined look on her face. There was something feral and animalistic about her. Her eyes slowly changed shape, turning from their usual round shape into the watchful, deep eyes of a cat. Suddenly something black and orange sprang forth from her lower back with a sound like a whip. Simon and Niklas stared in amazement.

It was a tail. A thick, brightly orange tail with black spots and tip that went from the small of her back up to around the top of her neck. It whipped angrily in the air, reflecting her emotions. She looked at Simon and Niklas, anger flairing in her eyes. As she spoke, they noticed for the first time how sharp her teeth looked.

"I'll find them..." she said, her voice filled with a sudden rage. "...and when I do, there will be hell to pay."

* * *

Simon didn't have a clue as to how Lynx knew where she was going, but he knew he had a hard time keeping up. She was running incredibly fast, only stopping in short intervals to sniff the air every now and then. He didn't say anything about her odd behaviour, it was clear that she didn't want to be disturbed.

They ran for what seemed like an eternity, and came to a sudden halt in front of a large Marine fortress on the other side of the island. It was a large building, surrounded by fences and a wide moat. A sturdy, wooden bridge connected it to the rest of the island. Niklas was panting hard when they stopped, trying to catch his breath.

"He's inside, somewhere." Lynx said, gesturing towards the stronghold.

Simon's expression became furious. "Hang on a second." he said, his hands shaking. "Do you mean to tell me that the Marines have taken him?"

Lynx nodded. "He's inside."

"We could sneak inside and try to break him out." Niklas said. "It'd be no problem for me to-"

"The fucking _Marines_?" Simon's voice was full of anger. "Oh, _hell_ no! They'll pay for this!"

"Listen to me," Niklas said, trying to catch his attention. "We could just-"

"I'm not gonna sneak!" Simon shouted. "They're going _down_!"

He stretched his arms out tightly in front of him, and a cannonball appeared in his hands. He aimed them at the large, wooden gate, narrowing his eyes with an angry expression. Gunpowder started to pour from his arms, collecting itself behind the cannonball in a large, brown line.

"Hand cannon!"

The gunpowder exploded, sending the cannonball hurling through the air. It connected with the gate, and the explosion was so intense it literally blew it to pieces. The guards who had been standing in front of it were thrown to the side by the shockwave, and it looked like one of them was suddenly missing an arm. An alarm rang out from the fortress, and they could hear the sound of hundreds of running feet from inside.

"Let's go." Simon said, his voice dangerously calm.

* * *

As they approached the gate, Lynx grabbed the guard who was missing an arm by the collar and held him up against her face.

"Where's the Captain?" she hissed.

The guard had been delerious from pain, but when he heard the question, he began to laugh at her with a satisfied grin on his face.

"They told us you'd be coming. You don't stand a chance." he wheezed, blood pouring from his shoulder. "Fucking pirate scum!"

"Where is he?" Lynx eyes flared, her orange one filled with burning fire.

The guard laughed again.

"He was taken down to the dungeons by Rear Admiral Maxwell. If he isn't already dead, he'll be begging for his life by now. You'll-"

He would have continued speaking, but Lynx slammed him into the ground, put one foot on his chest and with a ferocious growl, she ripped his head from his body.

"I'll _kill_ them!" she shouted, drawing her whips. They were adorned with what looked like small blades, and when she cracked one of them through the air, it made an ominous, metallic sound.

"I'll _kill them all_!"

She clasped the hilts of her whips tightly and rushed inside with a speed that Simon hadn't believed her capable of. As she entered the courtyard, she was met by what must have been a hundred Marines, waiting with their swords and rifles at the ready.

She launched herself at them with a scream.

"Slicing Storm!"

Her whips lashed out in a flurry of deadly strokes. All around her, Marines were dropping to the ground like flies. Their throats were cut, they were missing hands and legs. Some of them had their stomaches sliced open, their intestens spilling out on the blood-soaked ground. She dodged bullets with such a graceful ease that it looked like she was dancing.

Simon and Niklas ran after her with amazed expressions.

"Wow." Simon said, grinning. "That's just...wow." He pressed his hat down on his head, and guns blazing, he threw himself into the fray.

Niklas fired his grappling hook straight into the face of one an unsuspecting Marine, using the momentum to draw himself into the middle of the action. He kicked the Marine in the stomach, making him gasp for air, and sent him unconcious to the ground with a swift blow to the head. He turned towards the mass of Marines, slipping swiftly into a fighting stance.

"Merman karate. Murane Tile Blazing fist!" he spun on his heels, and using the momentum, he delivered a punch powerful enough to throw four Marines to the ground at once. One of them tried to get back on his feet, but he put him back down with a well-placed headbutt.

They fought for a long time, dodging bullets and parrying swords, taking down one Marine after the other.

Lynx was a bloody blurr, slicing so fast and furiously that not even Simon's guns were able to keep up. By the time the last soldier fell to the ground by the hands of Niklas martial arts, she had easily taken down half of them all by herself, and she showed no sign of slowing down.

It all seemed to be running smoothly until a huge shape stood before them blocking out the sunlight. It was a giant wearing a Marine coat, wielding a huge morningstar in his hands. He slammed at Lynx, forcing her to dive for cover. Simon took aim at him, but the shockwave of the blow sent him flying sideways.

"You think you can just stomp in here without hesitation?" the giant rumbled. "I'll kill you and eat your bodies for lunch!"

They dodged again as another stroke of the morningstar came hurling towards them.

"What the hell do we do?" Simon screamed. "I can't kill him like this, he's too big!"

Niklas laughed and looked at the giant with a predatory grin. "You go on in and find the Captain!" he shouted. "Leave him to me! I'll show him what we're made of!"

Simon nodded and ran ahead. He looked around for Lynx, but he couldn't find her. After scanning the other side of the courtyard for a few seconds, he saw why. A door had been smashed in, and three mutilated corpses were lying inside the doorway, their blood pooling on the ground.

"Damn it, Lynx!" he shouted, even though he knew she probably wouldn't hear him. "Wait up!" he ran inside the doorway, following the bloody trails of carnage she left behind her.

* * *

The giant looked at Niklas and laughed. "Puny eel, I'll roast you and suck your brain out through your neck!"

He tried to stomp Niklas with his huge feet, but Niklas evaded them with ease,

He slammed the morningstar down, but Niklas was able to dodge in time, firing his grappling hook straight into the giant's eye. The giant howled in pain. Niklas grinned and was about to retract his grappling hook, but then the giant suddenly caught hold of the rope and yanked hard, making him lose his balance. The rifle flew from his hands and clattered to the ground several meters behind the giant.

Before Niklas had time to steady himself, the giant caught him with a swift blow. The morningstar hit him like a cannonball, making him gasp in pain. His bones cracked with a sickling noise, but somehow he still remained concious.

The giant laughed. "Stupid eel not so tough without his weapon. Now I will eat you. Raw, like sushi."

Niklas groaned on the ground. He noticed he had landed on top of a dead marine, and he rolled over in disgust. With a tremendous effort, he slowly got to his feet. Legs shaking from the impact, his body bleeding and bruised, he glared at the giant, spitting blood onto the ground. "You really don't pay attention, do you? You stupid, lumbering sack of flesh! I am _not_ an _eel_!"

He darted forward, dodging the giant's morningstar, aiming for the gap between his feet. He stopped as he reached the back of the giant's left leg, and with a motion as swift and supple as water, he jumped into the air. He aimed with calm precision for the hollow of the giant's knee, and when he came close enough, he drew his arm back.

"Merman Karate. Three thousand tile crushing fist!"

The force of the punch sent an intense shockwave toward the giant, and with the sound of a mighty oak snapping in a hurricane, his leg broke.

"AAAAAAAARRGGHHH!" the giant's scream echoed across the courtyard, bouncing against the walls, but Niklas wasn't done. He landed on the ground, and quickly ran over to his grappling hook. He took aim at the giant's neck, and fired. Using all the power of the momentum, he drew his arm back once more.

"Merman Karate. Murane Tile Ten Thousand Pound Pressure Hammer!"

The punch hit the giant in the back of the head like a freight train. There was another cracking noise, his eyes rolled back into his head, and then he fell over forwards, faceplanting into the ground with the sound of a small earthquake.

Niklas jumped off the dead giant, stumbling from pain as he hit the ground. He glared at the corpse with angry eyes as he lit a cigarette. "I'm a _Murane."_ he said, inhaling the smoke. He limped towards the broken door, muttering angrily to himself.

* * *

Simon caught up with Lynx after a few minutes of running inside the large corridors. She had just finished off a Marine by slicing through his lungs, and she was soaked in blood.

"This way." she growled at him, pointing to a door at the end of the current hallway. Simon was too stunned by her ferocity to do anything but nod and fall in behind her.

As she opened the door, a thick, cool fog billowed out into the hallway. The room inside was large and lit up by several candles and lanterns, but they still had a hard time seeing anything at all through the fog.

"Well, well, well..." a voice said from somewhere inside. "I'm impressed you made it past the guards. Perhaps the rumors _are_ true, after all."

A young man wearing a Marine coat and a pair of dark sunglasses stepped out from the fog. Or rather, it seemed like the fog cleared as he stepped forward, making him visible.

"Out of my way!" Lynx growled, raising her whip to strike, but Simon laid a hand on her arm, stopping her.

"No, Lynx. I'll take care of him. You go find the Captain."

Lynx looked at him for a second, her eyes filled with so much rage that he flinched at the sight, but then she nodded and ran forwards into the fog.

"Now hold on just a second." The young Marine said, pulling a gun out from his belt. "Who told you you could pass?" he aimed at Lynx, apparently having no problem at all seeing through the fog, but as he was about to pull the trigger, a bullet pierced his hand, and the gun fell clattering to the floor, and the bullet lodged itself into the wall. Lynx disappeared through the door on the adjacent side of the room.

"I did." Simon said gravely, his gun still smoking from the bullet.

The man clutched his bleeding hand, but as he laid eyes on Simon, he smiled and let it fall to the side. Simon noticed that his hand seemed to regenerate on its own, the hole became swirling fog, and then turned itself back into flesh. "Damn." he thought. "He's a Logia. This won't be easy."

"Now this is something of a treat." the young man said, flexing his hand. " "Bullet" Simon, living and in the flesh. I've heard stories about what you can do, and by the look of things, it seems they weren't exaggerated."

He bowed. "My name is Anthony Firebrand, and I will be the one to kill you."

Simon snorted. "For being a shithead, you think rather high thoughts about yourself. And what's the deal with the sunglasses, did your mom think you were so hideous she made you wear them since birth?"

Anthony pursed his lips. The door slammed shut behind Simon's back, and the lights grew dimmer, to the point where it was almost too dark to see. "You will pay for your insolence."

Simon smiled into the gloom. "Bring it on, fog-boy."

He fired at Anthony without a moments hesitation. Anthony smiled at him. He didn't even move, as he knew the bullets would simply pass straight through his body and out the other side. When the first bullet pierced his shoulder, sending an explosion of pain through his body, he began to worry. When the second one pierced his left lung, he withdrew into the fog with an expression of panic on his face.

"How?" he asked, his voice echoing inside the room. "How can you hit me?"

Simon looked around the room, trying to find his opponent. He smiled. "You think you're invincible just because you can turn yourself into fog?" Simon laughed. "Think again, shithead. There's more than one way to skin a cat." he got an apologetic look on his face. "Shit, she might have heard that. SORRY, LYNX! It's just an expression!"

The room was silent. "Then..." Anthony's voice said. "I'll just have to make sure you can't shoot me."

"Fog Blast!"

Simon felt a blow hit him in the head, his hat falling to the ground. He tried to dodge as Anthony materialized beside him, but he didn't have enough time. Anthony punched him in the ribs, making him gasp for air. He gave him another blow to the head, and snatched the gun from his left hand. Simon shot him with his other gun, but the bullet only managed to graze him, as he faded back into the shadows.

Simon started to run and fired where he felt Anthony would be. His aim was good, and he managed to land a few hits, but never anything vital. And even though the fog grew smaller and smaller – a sure sign that Anthony's strength was slowly fading, Simon knew the fight was far from over. Anthony was moving fast, very fast, and he had, Simon acknowledged grudgingly, a very large element of surprise.

"Fog Stampede!"

Suddenly, Simon was showered with blows from all directions at the same time. He felt a punch hit him in the kidney, and a fraction of a second later, there came a kick flying towards his head combined with another punch, headed for his back. He staggered under the force of the blows, backing himself into a wall.

He defended himself as best he could, but the blows came down hard and mercilessly, filling his body with pain. His gun clattered to the floor, and a mere fraction of a second later, it was gone from sight.

A cocking noise could be heard from across the room, followed by the hollow clicking of an empty gun-barrel. The process was repeated one more time, with the same result.

"What the hell?" Anthony's voice was filled with surprise and confusion. "They're _empty_!"

Furious, he tried to punch Simon in the face, but he was surprised, as Simon blocked him with very little effort and punched him back right between the eyes.

Simon laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I disappoint you? Come now, you didn't _really_ think I'd go down that easily, did you?"

"How..." Anthony's voice was still confused. "How on earth can you shoot these things if there aren't any bullets? And how can you _hit me?_"

Simon grinned into the fog.

"You made three mistakes. Firstly..." Simon shaped his hand like a gun and pointed it towards the now clearly visible shape of the young Marine. "Hand Gun!" A bullet flew from his hand, piercing Anthony's already severly damaged leg. "...you made the mistake of thinking I'd need my guns in order to shoot you. Secondly..."

"Fuck you!" Anthony screamed, and tried to turn back into fog, but his attempt was ruined halfway through, as Simon appeared behind him, slamming his fist into his cheek, drawing blood. "...you talk way too much, making it all too easy to find you. And thirdly..."

Simon clutched his face with his right hand, putting his left on top of it for support. Gunpowder started to pour from his hands, trailing down Anthony's face, into his mouth and nostrils. "...you made the mistake of thinking I need to use my guns at all."

Anthony's face became a mask of sheer, raw panic, but he was unable to move.

Simon clutched his face even tighter, his eyes filled with anger and triumph.

"Gunpowder Blast!"

Anthony screamed a muffled scream of horror. The gunpowder exploded, sending his head splattering all over the walls, and the fog disappeared completely, leaving the room dimly lit and quiet.

"FUCK!" Simon shouted, kicking the dead body of Anthony in the stomach. "Do you have _any_ idea how much that _hurts?_" He stood shaking his hands vigorously. They were dripping with blood, pouring out from large, red wounds.

"Fucking brat." Simon said as he picked up his hat from the floor. "Now where the hell did he put my guns?"

* * *

Lynx mind was hazy. She was drawing closer to the Captain, she could feel his scent in the air. Her rage fuelled her, and she had long since lost count of the number of Marines she had slain. At long last she arrived at the stairs leading down to the dungeon. They had to be. She could feel the smell of tea, ashes and seawater that was unique to the Captain coming from behind the door. It was faint, almost overpowered by the strong, iron-filled scent of blood, but it was there.

She calmed herself enough to open the door without a sound, and noiselessly, she made her way inside. As she was making her way downstairs, a scream pierced the silence. It was an almost unnatural scream, animalistic and full of so much pain, she almost couldn't stand it.

"Now, now..." a voice said from below. "What did I tell you about screaming? If you scream, I'll have to do it one more time."

Another scream, followed by the unmistakeable sound of weeping.

Lynx faded into the shadows of the gloomy dungeon, slowly making her way down the stone stairs, toward the source of the screaming.

The voice came back with the same patronizing tone. "Now tell me, _who is your master?"_

Lynx heard a noise that sounded like someone spitting. Then, to her great relief, she heard the voice of the Captain, but it was rough, and full of pain. "Fuck you."

A slicing noise, and Johan screamed again. By now, Lynx had made it far enough to stand just outside the bars. The cell was dimly lit, so dim in fact, that a normal person wouldn't have been able to make out much of it at all, but that didn't bother her. What she saw made her want to scream, and the rage took her once again. She slid through the bars like a well-oiled lightning, and before the unknown man could react, she brought her whip down upon him with all the fury she could muster.

"Coiling snake!"

The whip wound itself tightly around the surprised man's neck, and in mere seconds, he was choking and gasping for air, his hands feebly trying to make the whip come loose.

"Constrict!" the whip's hold grew tighter, and the man collapsed on the floor, his face turned black from lack of oxygen. Lynx was about to stomp the dead man's head into a pulp, but when she saw the bloody, tormented body of her Captain hanging from the ceiling, all rage left her in the blink of an eye.. She quickly took him down, and cradled his head in her hands, gazing into his unfocused eyes.

"Captain." she said, her voice shaky with emotion. "Captain, it's me, Lynx."

Johan's eyes focused slightly, but when he tried to speak, he started coughing blood. It splattered all over his chest and onto the floor beneath them.

"Lynx..." he said at last, his voice broken to the point where it was barely a whisper. "So much...so much pain."

Lynx gave him a gentle hug. "It's all right, Captain, I'm here. It's all over now."

Johan looked at her, his eyes filled with more pain than Lynx had ever seen before, and then he began to weep.

* * *

Lynx rarely spoke about what she saw inside that dungeon, and when she did, it was always in broad terms. Johan never said much, either. He merely stated that if Lynx hadn't come through the door when she did, the man would probably have made him bite his own tongue off in order to escape from it all.

The first nights after the rescue, Lynx spent a lot of time inside the Captain's quarters. She wouldn't let anybody in, save for Yin who treated his wounds. No one ever said a word about it, but in the dead of night a crying noise could be heard, followed by a soothing voice, and what sounded like a soft, reassuring purr.


	12. Chapter Ten

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, life has been...interesting. Here's the latest chapter for you!**

* * *

Simon looked down at the smoking crater, enjoying the smell of smoke and gunpowder rising towards him. He wasn't one for bragging, but he felt this had without a question been some of his finest work ever. After all, several thousand Marines blown to death and turned into ash in mere minutes wasn't something you saw every day. Simon had been against it at first, but the Captain told him that they were all ruthless and uncaring – nothing more than trained dogs carrying guns. It had been three days since Lynx carried the bleeding, unconscious body of the Captain on board the ship. Simon hadn't spoken a word to him since then. That is, until this morning...

* * *

_They were sitting in the Captain's quarters drinking tea. Johan had removed his bandages and was sitting shirtless on his usual pillow, his body once again displaying it's remarkable ability to heal. His face carried four vertical scars on each cheek and one diagonal one across his left eye. A single long, thin scar ran down each arm from his shoulders to the back of his hands, but that wasn't the worst of it. His torso and back were so covered in scars of various sizes and shapes that Simon had trouble taking them all in at once. And yet he was just sitting there, sipping his tea like nothing had ever happened._

_Johan gave Simon a calm look. "You're angry with me."_

_"You're damn right I am!" Simon said, his voice slightly louder than intended. "How the hell could you just keep me in the dark like this, Captain? Why wouldn't you let me help you? Why turn only to Lynx and not to me?"_

_"I did it because I had to. You know that if there was anything you could have done, I would have called for you in an instant. In fact, the only way you could help me was by staying away." Simon looked confused. Johan gestured towards a stack of papers on the desk in the corner of the cabin._

_"Over there is all the info the Order were able to dig up on the man who captured me. It seems he was a rear-admiral in the Marines. Some kind of devil-fruit user who specialized in pain and torture. I'm not sure of what he did to me, but I know what I felt." Johan took a sip of tea._

_"There was the physical pain, of course, but it was so much more than that... He made me feel every single drop of pain that I've ever experienced in my entire life, amplified by what felt like a thousand times. Over and over. If Lynx hadn't turned up when she did, I would've..." he fell silent and sipped his tea again._

_"After she cut me down, my senses were in overdrive. I felt everything around me so strongly that for a while, I actually thought I was going to go insane. I can't remember everything I mumbled over the days, but somewhere deep down, I knew I was talking about things that very few people aboard this ship know the meaning of." he gave Simon a meaningful look._

_"If you'd have been there, you would've understood every single thing, and your own subconcious emotions would've made my pain ten times worse._

_Now Lynx, on the other hand... well, firstly, she's only been with us a short period of time. Secondly, she couldn't make any sense of the things I said, to her they appeared to be more or less just feverish ramblings". Johan smiled a tired smile._

_"There's another aspect to it, too. Despite her witty appearence, Lynx is...very fragile. She's spent her whole life drifting around from town to town, being shunned because of her looks. She has learned the hard way not to trust anyone – in her experience, trust only leads to pain. Which is why, when we took her in, she was scared and acted cautious and wary. But it seems she slowly began to let her guard down after a while, I'm not sure why, but I could sense her becoming calmer and calmer for each passing day."_

_Simon smiled. "Well, Captain, that's thanks to you, I'm certain of it. You have that effect on people. It's just who you are. You treat us like family and make us feel important."_

_Simon laughed. "God, that's cheesy. But it's true, I suppose. I noticed she was spending a lot of time in here during the first weeks. I don't know what the two of you have been speaking about, but... I think you've really touched her. You should have seen her when she found out they'd hurt you. I've never seen anyone behave like that. It was...intense."_

_Johan smiled back._

_"She's important to me, as are you all. As individuals, and as a whole. She's a part of my crew, which I think is a new experience for her. I don't think she's ever been part of anything at all before. I'm glad I've been able to help her. She has a very special kind of energy about her, it's hard to explain, but... I connect to her so much easier than to any of you. It might have something to do with who and what she is, but I don't know for certain." he scratched his head with a small smile on his face._

_"All I know is that she's special in more ways than one. When she found me, it was like I found a safe refuge in an ocean of horror... Her feelings were honest and pure. She didn't know what was going on. She was scared and confused, but she really, really wanted me to get better. I think that's why she decided to stay in my cabin."_

_Johan's eyes took on a faraway look for a few seconds. "I can never thank her enough for that. That honest concern was the best aid I could've asked for. Without knowing it, she's saved my life twice in the last few days." he finished his tea, and gave Simon a predatory grin._

_"Now, there is something I'd like you to take care of..."_

* * *

Simon stretched and laughed to himself. If anyone found any kind of clue as to who was behind the destruction by digging through the charred rubble in front of him, he'd take it as a personal insult. Then again, it wouldn't stand to let someone else take the credit. He rummaged in his coat and pulled out a battered flag. The motive was a familiar one – he had it tattooed on his shoulder, and saw it every day, writhing in the wind on top of the mast.

He dropped it into the crater and watched is settle on the blackened ground with a smile on his face. Not a single speck remained of the place were their Captain had been close to dying, the man responsible was turned to dust forever, and all of his ruthless underlings were safely on their way to whatever hell awaited them. He pushed his hat down firmly in place, turned around and headed back towards the ship, picking up the pace as he went along and sporting a wide grin on his face.

After all, the Captain was awake again, and Simon had seen that look in his eye that he only got when he'd just thought of something brilliant. He wasn't sure of what was going to happen, but there was no doubt in his mind that whatever it was, it was going to be terribly exciting.


	13. Chapter Eleven

**A/N: Sorry the chapters are so short right now, I'm juggling a lot of stuff in my head at once. Still, I hope it's better than nothing!**

* * *

Niklas stared at Simon in bewilderment. "You want me to _what?_" he asked in a voice used by someone who's just been asked to eat his own foot and dip his head in a barrel full of leeches.

Simon sighed. "I told you. Take the ropes and wrap them around the hull."

"And then the Captain is going to..." Niklas began.

"...turn himself into...his other shape, and we're going to wrap the ropes around him and he'll fly us all into the sky." Simon answered, giving him a tired look.

Niklas looked just as bewildered as before. "You're crazy. _He's crazy. _Nobody can-"

"Are you saying you doubt the Captain's abilities?"

Niklas flinched. "Well, no, I just..." his mouth hung open for a few seconds while he tried to find some suitable words. "Give me the ropes." he said, "but if we die from this, I'm going to kill you."

He grabbed the ropes from Simon's hands and jumped into the water muttering curses under his breath.

* * *

Lynx looked at the scene in front of her. It was _a lot_ of rope. It was brown, thick, durable and all of it was securely tied around the Captain. It made him look more like a giant earthworm than a dragon. She giggled under her breath.

"What's so funny, Lynx?" Johan asked curiously, his deep voice rumbling like a thunderstorm.

"Oh, nothing, Captain..." she looked at him innocently. "I won't disturb you, I can see you're clearly _wrapped up in something..._" She giggled again.

"Don't be so hard on him, Lynx." Simon said from where he was securing the cannons. "He's still _learning the ropes_."

Johan looked at his laughing crewmates and huffed. "Very amusing. If you're both done, I suggest you get below deck with the others. This is going to be one hell of a ride."

As they went downstairs still smiling slightly, a loud creaking noise could be heard from all around them, and then, with the booming sound of beating wings, the ocean disappeared from beneath them.

* * *

"I don't like this." said Niklas, furrowing his brows and sticking his fork violently into a piece of fried fish. "No sea, no land, no nothing. It isn't natural, us flying around like some sort of giant bird. How long have we been up here like this, anyway?"

"We've been up for a few hours." Lynx answered from in front of the stove while shuffling some vegetables around in a large frying pan. "And if you don't treat my food with more care, I'll pluck your eyeballs out while you sleep." Simon laughed at this, finishing his plate of venison.

Niklas shivered. It wasn't the fact that she'd said what she'd said that had put him on edge. It was the way she made it sound as natural and simple as "If you step on a nail, your foot will hurt." he carved the rest of his fish very carefully.

As they were finishing dessert – some sort of green paste that tasted sweetly of lime and sugar – the whole kitchen rocked with impact, and a loud thud echoed through the ship. A few minutes later, Johan stepped through the door, brushing some dust from his robes. He had his hood pulled over his face, but he was grinning wildly. "Up you go, you lazy sandcrabs! We've reached our destination!"

As the crew walked back up on deck, they were met by an incredible sight. The ship had landed in what looked to be some sort of large pool. All around them were other ships, all bobbing quietly in their own watery confinements. Above them was the clearest sky anyone of them had ever seen. The ground looked to be made of a combination of dirt and wooden planks, but it stretched out as far as the eye could see. In the distance two-story houses stretched toward the sky, tightly crowding together with market stalls and tents of every kind.

Johan stretched his arms out towards their surroundings with a big grin on his face. "Everyone, welcome to the Market!"

Everyone but Simon stared around in astonishment.

"What the hell is this place?" Niklas asked, his voice filled with wonder.

"Well..." Johan said. "The Market is a-"

"The Market is a place of refuge for those who have no place else to go. It is a place where you can sell everything from scraps to jewelery, and always be certain of finding a buyer. It is a well-kept secret, and only those deemed worthy are told how to get here." The voice died down, and a figure stepped on board – apparently it had used it's own landwalk.

It turned out to be a middle-aged man clad in a simple brown uniform. He was followed by a dozen more men, who quickly surrounded the crew. Everyone instantly became cautious and was about to draw their weapons when the man spoke. "Johan D. Cilphaestrus?" the man asked in a deep voice. Johan nodded. "It is my pleasure to welcome you and your crew back to our humble island. Now, if you'd be so kind as to follow me, please. Right this way."

Johan nodded for the crew to keep up, and he fell in line behind the man. The other men surrounded them as they went.

"You've been here before?" Niklas asked Simon with a tone of surprise.

Simon smiled. "Yeah, years ago. Captain kept talking about the going to the sky, but I didn't think he'd find the place this soon. Then again, he _is_ the Captain."

Niklas looked at him and slowly shook his head in confusion. "If you've already been here, then do you mind telling me what the hell is going on? Where are they taking us?"

A grin spread across Simon's face. "If I'm not completely mistaken, the men surrounding us are Royal Guards." he said.

"Which means..." he continued, still grinning, "we're going to see the Queen."


End file.
